Wicked! Sounds Like My Kind Of School
by ILiveInTheTARDIS
Summary: COMPLETE  Ace dominated story set in 2006, England, where an alien is hiding in a boarding school. Unknowingly, Ace is sent in to identify the alien amongst very odd students. Secrets just as mysterious and potentially dangerous lurk just out of sight.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In the middle of England somewhere on private property in a forest, a gust blew up from nowhere, despite it being the stillest day of September that year. This oddity was soon overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of a large wooden box painted bright blue that stood out like a gold coin amongst silver.

One of the doors opened and a brown eyed girl with a backpack exited and peered through the trees. She sighed then exclaimed, pointing through the forest, "You can't even see it from here, Professor."

A voice inside the box replied, "Don't be ridiculous, Ace."

Ace turned to face the box. "If you're going to be dropping me off at this place you might have at least landed a bit closer."

"Ace." The tone implied that this conversation had already occurred twice before.

She rolled her eyes, unseen by the second speaker. "I know. Blending in."

"Exactly," the voice answered, enthusiastically.

Ace frowned as she hoisted her backpack higher onto her shoulder. "Do I have to go?"

"Ace," the voice warned again.

She looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath. "You promise you're coming back?"

A hat and a head popped out of the box to look at her. "Of course," he answered with a touch of sarcasm. "I'm just going to drop you off in the middle of the 21st Century after enrolling you in a school to finish your education and disappear off the face of the Earth, leaving you 20 years in your future." The sentence rolled right off his tongue just as his 'r's did. "It's what I do for fun."

That forced a smile from her, "Right." She took a step forward reluctantly. "See ya then."

She gave a small wave as the hat and head vanished into the box and then, another breeze picked up, sending dried leaves into the air. As suddenly as it had appeared, the box was gone.

* * *

Driveways should never be made this long, Ace decided after walking along the driveway for twenty minutes. There was still no sign of its end.

The reason for this long slog of a walk was to 'blend in'. In reality, it was probably attracted even more attention walking all the way instead of being dropped off at the door. But it was for 'her education' so she shouldn't be complain (yeah, right, like she wasn't going to complain) as the Professor had to pay an enormous amount just to get a place for her. He could have saved money by sending her to any other school, but no, he chooses the most expensive of the lot. It wasn't really his money in the first place, but still.

Personally, Ace thought it was another 'lesson' the Professor had planned. Memories flooded her brain as she walked. Creepy dark haunted houses that held more secrets than people. She had promised herself that she would never go back to her own personal past ever again, and she intended to keep that promise.

This school the Professor was making her go to was pretty creepy too. It was a boarding school. Worse, it was just for girls. Boys, she could deal with. She could relate to them much better. Girls were something else. They were different, harder to read and even harder to trust. She'd only found two girls her age that had anything in common with her. It is rather disappointing that girls just aren't into explosives, as most guys can't get away with carrying lots of deodorant cans around.

Ace had never liked school. The social expectations were a bore and pain, just like the rest of Perivale, but some good had come of it, namely two things. Manisha and creative chemistry. Her art teacher hadn't seen it coming, but she saw to Ace's expulsion. Maybe that had been a good thing. The next most hated subject was English and those rooms were located on the second floor.

Despite all this, the Professor had seen fit to send her here, to a boarding college. Just what Ace loved; a fancy posh school for a trip down Ace memory lane. At least it wasn't her time period. She didn't think she could live through that again. No, early 21st Century looked much more promising. After all something must have changed in almost 20 years. Otherwise, what was the point of having small personal computers and phones if not to be more helpful and easier to use? More technology, more learning, must be the thought. Probably more like, more technology, more distractions, more mayhem.

Ace had been lectured, rather briefly, on the time period and how to operate some of the new devices. The problem with being 'briefed' was that he could only tell her what he knew, but she knew from experience that it was often what the Professor neglected to tell her that was the most vital. She had said as much to him once. He also knows next to nothing about social factors and current trends that were sure to be well known and expressed at schools like the one she was reluctantly going to. Although he didn't view it as important, Ace had a sinking feeling that teenagers of almost any time period were the same. They were a pack, strangers were unwanted and uniqueness was frowned upon and hunted down.

This was not new for Ace, but she was on shaky ground. She did not have the benefit of being able to speak the 'lingo', (a new term for her but she understood the concept) or having some common ground with the other students. Nor was she a very open person. She was particularly bad at blending in because she was Ace. There was no other way to explain it. She would make no allowances, no deals, no changes in any way, to please or meet the approval of some teenagers she will never have to see ever again after she's done here. The pack would just have to deal with it.

* * *

"Name."

"Ace," she replied shortly. Not overly friendly, but not rude either. No need to make herself a bigger target than she already was.

The receptionist, blonde with a funny kind of voice, didn't look up from the forms and papers that covered every surface of the desk. "What?"

She repeated, "Ace." Those small speakers from those mini stereos (what were they… Ah, an mp3 player) must be seriously damaging the receptionist's eardrums. Ace could hear the music coming from them but, (surprise, surprise) didn't recognise it. Still, music from 2006 can't be that much more different from 1986.

The receptionist didn't blink. "Right then." There was an odd tone expressed in that voice, that might have been disapproval or doubt, but Ace wasn't sure so said nothing.

Ace stood there, backpack slung over one shoulder, for a few minutes, while the receptionist studied the tree outside a nearby window as though it was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. It was quiet, which was odd as this was a boarding school and Ace hadn't seen anyone outside.

She glanced back at a big glass box at the entrance. It had caught her attention on the way in due to the contents. It was an 'Amnesty Box' and all sorts of things had been placed inside. A slight noise drew her attention away from the curious box. It took her a few seconds to register that the sound she could only just hear over the music were snores, and even less time to decide that she might as well look around.

First stop, science supply room. She was running low on Nitro supplies. Enough to scare some overcurious teen who felt like going through her stuff, but not enough if things got ugly which happens a lot (in other words, always). The Professor had searched her bag twice before she left. He knew that there was no way he could prevent her from finding some way of smuggling explosives in or out of the TARDIS, but it would stupid to think that he wasn't doing his hardest to try to limit or immensely reduce the amount. Long ago, she'd learnt to make them on the go.

Grinning, she set off.

With a nose for Nitro ingredients and trouble, (it's an acquired trait of travel with the Professor) Ace found the labs quite quickly. The room was a mess with test tubes, piping and glass beakers found on every bench. Some kind of experiment? She could smell gas; a Bunsen Burner was boiling some kind of liquid in a beaker positioned precariously on a tripod. She peered through the tubes, curious.

Cries echoed through the building. Ace's ears picked up on the sound. Those weren't shouts for help, but screams filled with anger. Something was going on outside and it sounded like trouble. So what was Ace going to do?

Run towards it, of course.


	2. Copper, Cans and The Underdog

**Chapter 1**

**Day 1; Copper, Cans and the Underdog**

"_Nice place you've got here." She then added with a bleeding split lip, "Very friendly."_

The school grounds were vast, but a large crowd of people gathered in one place is a sure indication that you're headed the right way if you're looking for trouble. The Professor might have given the instruction to 'Stay out of trouble', but Ace was not the kind of person to willingly stay away from the action. She preferred to be right in the thick of it, regardless of the possible consequences.

She quickly identified the underdog of the fight, and, in true Ace style, leapt straight into the brawl herself. The said girl was being attacked on all sides by several other girls. She was taking quite a beating and couldn't protect herself from the multitude of blows coming from a dozen or so attackers. Talk about all picking on the one person. Ace dodged fists, knees and feet as she made her way towards the very heart of the fight, and found the victim. Her eyes widened. The girl was just a kid, several years younger than her assailants. She had to be about ten! Ace's anger grew. How dare they! She couldn't even fight back.

One girl, tall with bronzy brown hair arranged in what might have once been an elaborate braid that reached halfway down her back, was the outright aggressor. She might have looked 18 or 19 in her tight flattering outfit of a fitted shirt and shortened skirt if her makeup and hair hadn't been mangled in the brawl, revealing her true age to be about sixteen or seventeen with very high thoughts of herself. Judging by the large crowd and their egging her on, she was the clear favourite of the fight.

Another girl, identical to the victim, was lying on the ground with a nasty bruise developing on her left temple. After scanning the crowd, it seemed that help was not coming, nor was anyone willing to get out of the way to let any in.

That was soon to change.

Without any grace or concern about losing dignity, Ace elbowed and shoved her way through to the very epicentre of the gathering. The victim tensed, sensing someone closing in, but refused to remove the copper haired girl in front of her from her sights. This little girl had guts to stand up to such a large foe. However, she was about to get her teeth knocked out as the other girl (Whom Ace dubbed, 'Copper' due to the tinge of metallic shine to her hair) was pulling back her arm, ready to release a painful right hook.

Her blow never reached its target. The sudden arrival of an unfamiliar person startled 'Cooper' long enough for the owner of the steel eyes that burned with a cold, yet intense rage, to push the oncoming punch aside. Everyone in the mob that circled them was silenced. Confused by this, the victim shifted her gaze to find who'd stepped in. Whispers began to circulate the gathering, but Ace ignored them. She met 'Copper's eyes and was slightly amused that the girl couldn't hold her stare. In fact, the other girl was starting to glow with anger that mirrored the annoyance of a hunter being kept from their prey.

After a few seconds, the girl regained face. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded in a posh kind of voice.

"Someone who doesn't stand by when someone's being picked on," Ace replied quietly.

'Copper' sneered, which did not compliment her split lip with bright pink gloss over it, or the smear the cut was making on her chin. Smug was an ugly look for the girl. The victim did not flinch, and Ace approved of this, impressed by the girl's spirit. However, she did not show this, instead taking another step forward suddenly, causing 'Copper' to flinch.

"Not so brave when the tide's turned, are you?" Ace remarked.

This girl was a bully. Only the weak or easily upset were chosen as her targets. When faced with a more confident and hardened opponent, she found herself on the back foot. Bet she hadn't been expecting someone stronger than or as big as her to stand against her actions.

The crowd was captivated by the suspense and the air between Ace and the girl seemed to increase in temperature. It didn't take a genius to see when personalities clashed, especially as fiery as theirs. Sparks were sure to fly. The audience eagerly awaited combat like the Romans in the Colosseum.

'Copper' was a tough one to crack, not someone to give in easily. "Get out or get hurt," she threatened.

Ace's shackles rose. She could take this girl, Ace thought to herself. But what about everyone else? Her friends certainly wouldn't stand by and not help out. 'Copper' wouldn't stop them either. It would be to her advantage, and she had no fears about compromising pride as long as she wasn't beaten.

Her statement was a challenge, and it was clear that everyone around knew that. Accepting it was a bad option for Ace but backing down was even worse. Bullies were relentless. Let them trample you once and they'd keep coming back, hungry for more. It was like feeding a starving tiger and just as dangerous.

Her silence was taken as an answer. 'Copper' lead the attack, and Ace suddenly found herself battered around like a ping pong ball, bouncing off the people around her as if they were solid walls. Everyone was just biting, scratching, kicking and punching everywhere they could, whenever they could.

The victim, ignored in the commotion, had vanished like the last cookie in the jar. Ace couldn't blame her. She only hoped the other girl, the one unconscious on the ground, would similarly disappear as well. A fist made contact with her face, and her vision blurred. Colours blended together and gradually, she found herself submitting more and more to the mob until her head was forced to the ground.

A bell 'binged' somewhere in the paint pallet of colours and shapes, and the assault of pain decreased. Then, she was alone in the middle of the grounds of some boarding school in 2006 with a face full of earth. What was she doing here, she asked herself, willing her ears to stop ringing. This is stupid. The whole idea of finishing her education was a joke, and the Professor would just have to accept that Ace and schools don't mix well. One would quickly combust due to the other.

After several moments of blissful silence, Ace opened her eyes and bright sunlight streamed through. One eye was already swelling, and everything was blurry. Not tears, she told herself. She wasn't crying. They had been beaten out of her.

Through the watery vision of one and a half eyes, a face appeared. Back to gloat, Ace thought darkly. Come on then. Deliver your big words and tell me to run home or get used to being the punching bag. Unfortunately, if it was 'Copper' there wasn't much Ace could do about it. She couldn't even manage to spit at her properly let alone repay the punishment she'd received.

She'd have to get even with that smug git later, when she could actually see enough to tell the difference between a girl with long red hair and one with short black hair, like the face she was starting to work out.

"They did mention a new girl," a voice announced to no one in particular.

The voice wasn't one of the many she had heard from the crowd. Somebody else to be smug and see that she had been beaten to a pulp. Great.

Ace cleared her throat. "Gee, I'm feeling fine, thanks for asking." Her throat tightened at the end as she clambered to her feet, winching ever so slightly as the bruises began to make themselves known, and took in the new arrival.

Average height if not for those high heels, black earlobe length hair with a fridge, she was likely about eighteen. Like the other girl, her makeup and bright red lipstick made her look much older. However this girl seemed a lot more sophisticated in her manner, but this idea clashed with her attire. Her clothes had been through some intense modifications. Long fitted skirt, white shirt with more sleeve than 'Copper's and a striped tie that wasn't tied up but left dangling underneath the shirt's collar; they matched the basic features of this place's uniform.

There was something odd around her neck that looked more like a cat's collar than a necklace (then again, Ace knew next to nothing about fashion back at her old school, just as she does now). The collar, for some odd reason, drew Ace's attention to how the girl was similar to a cat. The evident care of her appearance, her short black bob of hair that reached her ears and no further, and the vast depth of her brown eyes also encouraged this idea. Sure, she wasn't furry, or have fluffy ears or a tail that were attached to a feline, but she definitely shared their grace.

"Made quite the entrance," the girl commented.

She could talk. Confidence radiated from her like heat from an oven, and her gait spoke volumes about her status in this school.

Ace attempted to shrug, but thought better of it. It was painful, so she settled for a brief nod. "Nice place you've got here." She then added with a bleeding split lip, "Very friendly."

The girl smiled slightly for half a second before it disappeared. It wasn't a mocking smile, but not quite an amused grin either. Ace's eyes widened as she bent down and picked up a grey canister that lay on the grass a few meters away.

"I wouldn't open that if I were you," Ace warned. Her tone was serious enough to convince the girl not to touch the screw on lid.

"Yours?" the girl asked.

Ace said nothing, but accepted the canister when it was offered to her, checking that it was screwed on tight. It would be just her luck for it to explode on her. It probably wouldn't make much difference to how she looked however, although she didn't want to imagine how awful she appeared right now. You couldn't make much of a worse first impression than being all grotty and the clear looser of a fight.

She gave the ground a quick scan and found her backpack was missing. They'd taken her bag with the remaining two cans of Nitro 9 and everything else she had brought. It wasn't her day. Everything she owned had been seized by the enemy, and would have to be retrieved, fast. The thought of her precious few Nitro cans in the hands of 'Copper' and her friends was not a happy one.

The direction from what seemed hours ago came back to her. "Blend in," she had been told. She had done a wonderful job of that, hadn't she? Finding trouble within the hour of her arrival was something only she even seemed to manage. This time had to be a record. Even at some of the strange and wacky places Ace had visited lately, it had taken the space of a few hours before anything dangerous had happened. She could picture the Professor's disapproval.

The cat like girl was watching her with a very close gaze, she noted. Almost as if she waiting for her to start blabbing about the fight and blame the others, even cry. Ace found herself growing more determined by the second. There was no way that was going to happen. She might be hurt and have lost nearly everything she owned but she was not going to shred a single tear, especially not because some girl had unleashed inner fury on her. Beaten she may be, but she was more stubborn as a pit-bull and not about to give in.

"It belongs to someone else," she found herself saying.

The girl raised her eyebrows, sceptically. Ace imagined that it was the equivalent of ears pricking up of the creature that people associated with curiosity. She really had to stop comparing this girl to an animal. But this girl was actually listening, interested in what she would say.

"Copper hair, pink nails, split lip and a braid. Sneers a lot," Ace continued. Yes, that girl did deserve a fright, and it would be Ace's pleasure to deliver it.

The girl's eyes glowed in understanding, "Josey."

Ah, a proper name for the face. Ace made a note of it for future use. There was a slight tone of annoyance or even frustration in her voice.

"I'm guessing she's as much as your friend as she is mine," Ace stated.

Again the other girl's eyes flashed for a moment. Approval, or was it agreement? It didn't last long enough to identify which one, but her stance shifted from behind a person observing something to becoming involved.

"Kelly," the girl introduced herself, extending her right hand to Ace.

She hid her thoughts well. No emotion was detectable. She was being cautious. Ace understood that. They didn't know each other and both held their cards close to their chests. It wasn't distrust, rather a decision to reserve judgement.

The hand was an offer and posed a subtle non-verbal question, 'And you?'

It was an opportunity Ace wasn't about to let slip. She already had too many people around who hated her. Even if it was just one person, it was one more person she didn't have to watch her back around. Besides, the girl looked like someone you could trust. However, Ace needed to be aware that all things have snags and, in this instance, all cats have claws, but she refused to allow that to daunt her.

She took the hand, smiling. "Me? I'm Ace."

* * *

If 'Copper' had hoped that Ace would turn straight around and leave with her tail between her legs, she was quickly disappointed. Despite Kelly's departure after guiding her back to the main building (The grounds were massive! It wouldn't take much to get lost here), and the almost certainty of earning stares and glares of absolutely every student, including hostile ones, Ace held her head up as she walked through the school corridor.

Her clothes, red short sleeved t-shirt and long bootleg jeans, stood out among the white shirts and blue skirts, and drew attention to her but she refused to looked away from the continuous gaze of the onlooking crowd. As a result, people started dismissing her and went about doing whatever they normally did. If you don't want to be noticed, people zoomed in on you, like a group of lionesses on a wounded zebra. The opposite was also true; if you know you're going to be noticed, be noticeable and they'll leave you alone. This tactic worked pretty well for a first try.

As she passed more and more girls, Ace began to think that Kelly's uniform wasn't as strange as she'd first thought. No uniform she saw was the same. Ace's school teachers would have fainted at the length of skirts and fitted shirts, but each one had been individualised in some way, whether that was using the school issue tie as a bandana or a scarf, or adjusting the school blouse to make it more like a singlet top (another new thing in fashion for Ace).Not even the cat collar was as strikingly unusual as the homemade accessories that half the girls wore.

There were distinct groups, Ace learnt by watching them as she made her way up the stairs. People of similar interests tended to hang out together. The smart and the strange, but there were a few more groups here. One collection involved those wearing extremely heavy makeup, black clothing, dark hair with red and other odd colours in striped, and scowling expressions that looked almost permanent. Another consisted of very exotic looking (for Ace anyway) clothing and massively long gold hoop earrings. Older girls with curled strawberry blonde hair and tanned skin (that made them look like carrots; long, narrow, large hair on top and orange bodies) also gathered together.

Ace spotted a few vaguely familiar faces from the brawl, but they gave no indication of recognising her. Perhaps that was because they didn't. She looked quite different, as she noticed in her reflection in the glass windows. The main factor was either the dirtied face or the once bland red shirt was now coated in grass stains. Her eye was a rotten fruit, but it looked worse than it felt.

She was headed for the dormitory when a shout rang out from upstairs. Everyone looked upwards. The roof? Ace's nerves twitched. Something was not good.

When you travel with the Professor, you know when you need to be somewhere, and the roof was exactly the place her instincts were telling her to be. Ace bolted up the staircase. Just before she reached the top of the stairs at the second floor, a window to her right was shattered by a shockwave. Narrowly missing the shards of glass that flew around, Ace caught a waft of the accompanying smell, the smell that a certain combination of chemicals made. The chance of mistaking that familiar scent was impossible. She knew exactly what it was.

A Nitro 9 explosion.

Ace raced up another smaller staircase like a bullet. There was no railing around the edge when she got to the roof but that didn't stop her from running along the narrow walkway behind an enormous chimney top and leaping down four steps that lead to the site of denotation. The roof was anything but clean. Scorch marks and fragments of an old deodorant were littered everywhere.

Very conscious of the other explosive she was carrying, she placed her own canister at the top of the small steps before going any further to investigate the damage. Ace found herself grinning. Whoever had unknowingly detonated it probably had the fright of their life when they'd searched through her stuff. She hoped it was 'Copper', although that girl probably wouldn't have gotten their hands messy dealing with the dirtier side of the plot. The grin didn't reach her eyes and was quick to flee her face pursued by a scowl of anger.

What a waste of a Nitro. There was nothing here to blow up! It had taken her fifteen minutes to carefully plan and sneak each Nitro can out of the TARDIS, and she'd lost one already!

When she caught the twits that had set it off-

Her trail of thoughts of revenge was fractured by the clinking of heels on the concrete walkway. She'd been followed. Ace spun on her heels, ready for another round at her attackers, but, perhaps luckily for them, they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was Kelly, and she was surveying the mess, Ace's Nitro can in hand.

"What happened here?"

Unfortunately for Ace it was painfully obvious. "Well, judging by the smell, I'd say a gelignite extracted Nitroglycerin explosion," she explained. She turned to gesture hopelessly behind her. "Set off by the contents of a large empty screw top sealed canister just like that one."

She pointed at the can that Kelly held. Her eyebrows rose as the message sunk in. In her hand was a deodorant can that was full of a highly concentrated explosive.

"You still feel like opening it?" Ace asked, her voice like stone.

There was a slight clink as the can was very gently returned to the ground.

"That is one of three. The second," Ace gestured at the destruction.

"And the last one?" Kelly inquired.

Ace shrugged. "In the bag. My bag, they took it."

"Like that one?"

Ace turned to see her pointing upwards at the highest point of the building. Ace sighed as she looked up. Low and behold, it was her bag sitting on top of the tower's peak. There was only one way up to get it. Kelly looked almost apologetic at her as Ace rolled her eyes and removed her sneakers. They were made for running, not gripping, so they were more of a hindrance. At least the tower was made of brick which meant there were plenty of handholds.

Her muscles in her arms ached as she forced herself up hand over hand. Some nasty debt was sure to be paid back tomorrow. She eventually reached the top and tugged at the straps of her bag, freed it from the pole at the very top and began the slow decent, bag in tow.

Kelly had gone by the time both feet were on the roof again. Ace's legs trembled and threatened to give way, so she took a seat, to catch her breath and let her now agonising thigh, triceps and biceps muscles to relax. She unzipped her recovered bag and examined the contents. She was glad to find her favourite badge covered jacket was still there, but some badges were missing (they gits had taken the eagle pin and the football badge!) but it hadn't been damaged otherwise. The same couldn't be said for the third can of Nitro. It had vanished. This was extremely annoying for Ace, as she knew this was the can with the latest timing prototype mechanism. She needed to get it back, and then she'd worry about revenge.

* * *

Later that evening, Ace avoided any confrontation with any girl that slightly resembled someone she's glimpsed at the fight. She sought isolation and time to plan what her next move would be from here. She couldn't just march straight up to 'Copper' and break her nose, tempting as it might be.

She found a quiet and empty room, oddly enough the Religious Studies room, and pulled out the laptop the Professor had found for her (again, not his nor bought) from her recovered backpack. To her annoyance, the lid and case had letters, words and odd symbols scribbled on them, which matched those written on the corridor walls. Most of their meanings escaped her, but after looking some of the words up on the Internet (Six long days of being instructed by the Professor in the TARDIS had taught her something after all) she was not at all surprised that most were offensive slang. The messages that had been left for her to read didn't take much figuring out after that. Mainly stuff like 'Go home,' 'Get a life', and 'Piss off' (The last she understood but it didn't make any sense).

Then there was the butchered English and spelling which looked just as alien as most of the signs and lettering she'd had to get used to on Iceworld, (Maybe they would start to make sense eventually too) but at the moment she didn't feel up for trying to interpret them.

Ace paused deep in thought, and then opened up a Word Document. She then proceeded to type, 'Day 1 at St Trinian's,' just before all hell broke loose.


	3. Into the Dorm

**Chapter 2**

**Into the Dorm**

"_Check government records. Try looking under 'Nitroglycerin.'"_

There is a good reason why many schools don't offer school camps or overnight excursions. They tell the students and parents that it's 'too expensive' and that the time is better spent at school with normal activities and lessons. The real reason is that the teachers are quite satisfied with their payment for working 5 days a week and only having to put up with the disruptive and chaotic students for six hours a day. Asking them to extend this length of time even for a short time is just cruelty.

Such trips are filled with drama, exhaustion and violence. They are a test of endurance of both teachers and students, as neither can get away from the other. Pranks, theft and rule breaking behaviour in general are inevitable in an environment like this. More incidents occur on school trips and camps than during normal school days because the students are forced to keep together. They have no choice but to put up with the situation. In such self-inflicted chaos of constant company with their peers, tempers flare and fists start to fly.

Whoever came up with the idea of a boarding school where students stay for the whole term and only ever go home in the holidays really should have known about this.

The corridor was alive with bodies moving, pushing and shoving, all trying to go their own way. It was a stampede, and Ace waited for it to die down a little before choosing to join it too. While she waited for that to happen, she began searching the room for some place to store the Nitro canister where it wouldn't be disturbed or located. She found some rather odd things in the cupboards including multiple decks of cards and poker tokens. More signs of non-religious behaviour that had occurred in the room followed; torn bibles, (most with handwritten notes that lined the margins with rather creative comments), empty bottles of alcohol (which would satisfy over a dozen), burnt cigarette butts that littered the drawers and the smoky smell accompanied them. The stench was not old either.

Concluding that this probably wasn't a disused area, Ace gave up the search, closed the laptop, placed in between some dusty books on a shelf and wrapping the can of Nitro 9 inside her jacket and placing it gently on top. She then began to initiate mission 'find a bed in the dormitory.'

The said dormitory was a battlefield, any teacher's worst nightmare. Long and narrow, beds lined each side, beaded curtains, hammocks, lights and streamers hung from the beams and roof and small tables, chairs, lamps and candlesticks were scattered all over the place. Most looked as though they had been thrown or shoved over as a poker machine had about a quarter way through the room, its coins and tokens slowly seeping onto the floor. Pillows and cushions of varying sizes, shapes and colours were flying, feathers, fluff and dust were falling, and loud, aggressive and shrill voices were catapulted across the room.

There seemed no distinct reason behind this except to create trouble to amuse themselves. There were no defined sides, just people belting anyone within range with a barrage of belongings.

Ace dodged several plump cushions, a belt and stuffed teddy that headed her way, and stepped to the side, taking cover behind a fallen chair. Watching through the gaps in the chair, Ace kept watch for any incoming objects. Soon the supply of pillows and soft objects decreased and books began to plummet through the air, only they were no longer ordinary notepads, but deadly missiles to be directed to their targets in this attic assault. Their covers punched and whacked, committing as many blows as they could before landing on the ground, exhausted.

'Copper'/Josey was among those attacking (The difference was that some people were aiming rather than just lobbing everything as far away from them as possible). This didn't surprise Ace much. However, Ace saw her back was towards her so, seizing her chance, she searched the area around her for something to throw. Without taking her eyes off her new nemesis, she bowled the first item she'd found; a fluffy cream cushion with cartoon animals on it; directly that way. Her aim was poor due to her strained upper body muscles and the shot went wide. The second attempt, a small black shoe, landed on the floor at Josey's feet, even though Ace had closed her bad eye and tried to compensate for it.

Disappointed with her lack of success, she gave up, and assumed watch of the odd battle. At least, that was what she had been planning, but after a second's lapse in concentration, somehow her bag found its way hurtling away in the opposite end of the attic. Silently, she watched its path of decent, mouthing a curse under her breath. The Nitro. Oh, God, the Nitro! One hard hit would send the roof a dozen metres into the sky.

The bag landed in a pile of clothing, and did not explode. But such a jolt would have triggered it. It could go off at any second. Running as though her life depended on it (In fact it did, and everyone else was in danger too. As much as she hated most of them, she wasn't about to see them killed) Ace charged down the pathway with a war cry. Girls froze in mid-throw at the thunderous noise coming closer to them, and watched spellbound as she lunged for the bag, ripped open the zip and unfurled her jacket with a rough jerk.

Oh, damn, thought Ace. The can was dented.

Leaving the jacket and bag to fall to the ground, Ace clutched the ticking time bomb in her hand, located the nearest exit, slammed the latch of the window open, crying "Geronimo!" and flung the can straight out, then ducked to the ground clutching her ears.

For about a second the room was silent and then a bang ten times louder than a paper bag full of air being popped rippled through the air. Students' eyes goggled at the sight of the tiny can being obliterated into a billion pieces with an almighty flash of bright light. As her ears recovered and ceased ringing, not a sound could be heard. Turning around Ace found that, although she hadn't intended to, she was instantly the centre of the entire dorm's attention.

It was like someone had pressed 'pause' on a video. No more throwing, no more violence, just two columns of deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. For a moment, she had no idea what to say with all those faces pointed straight at her. Suddenly, for the first time since her arrival, she had control over what was to happen next. It was her chance to use this chance to do whatever she liked. A startling discovery of potential, that's what this opportunity offered.

Abruptly there seemed too much choice, to many options. What should she do? Act like nothing had happened? Pretend to be as shocked as everyone else? No, that'd only distance her from them and wouldn't help her one bit. It was impossible to deny what she'd done either. Foolish too, as they had all seen her do it. How could she describe what on Earth she'd done? You just couldn't do it justice in words.

Mentally shrugging, Ace did her specialty. She acted impulsively (Well, hey, it worked pretty good most of the time). Seizing the moment, she started walking down the aisle that had formed ahead of her.

"That," she announced to the onlooking crowd, "was pure Ace."

With that, she picked up her jacket, flung her bag onto the nearest vacant bed in sight and plonked herself onto it, a smile of great contentment beginning to spread across her battered face. Satisfied, Aces shut her eyes to the staring faces with open mouths. The silence held for several moments, and then after about a minute she sensed people beginning to move around her.

Oddly enough, the fight did not resume.

* * *

You couldn't deny that she had a unique way of doing things, Kelly thought to herself as she kept an eye on the newcomer in the darkness. Within an hour of her arrival she had gotten herself involved in a brawl, been bashed to pieces (Yes, the bruises were not pretty to look at), walked the halls oblivious to the hardened intimidation of the students, recovered her bag from the top of the tower and then silenced a dorm war with a homemade explosive.

Nice.

To add a chocolate coated cherry to the top of the multilayered jam and cream cake with hundreds and thousands on it, she had made quite the impression on practically everyone, especially the first years. All with a nasty black and blue face and epic grass stains down her front.

This girl was no ordinary 'bad girl' like some of the recent new girls had been. They still needed to learn their place, but Ace didn't give off the controlling and 'I'm gonna take charge and everyone will do as I say' vibes that a few of them had. Yes, she could take charge and hold their attention single-handedly, as she had shown by keeping the wild dorm silent for several minutes (A record), however that felt like a mask to Kelly.

Beneath that tough 'damn whatever stands in my way' gal act was something else. This new girl was a coiled spring that could bounce any way. She rebounded off one emotion into another and could be under the spotlight one minute, the next contently observing from the shadows.

This was what Kelly believed Ace had been doing after the explosion. She currently lay on her left side, face half buried in a lumpy pillow, still fully clothed (Jeans and all) which had foiled the first year's prank of scattering her clothes all over the attic (They had come up with another scheme involving her jacket, but it had strangely vanished by itself).

Kelly pondered over her conclusion. It might be completely off target. She could have it all wrong, but if what she thought was true, then Ace was one crafty, intelligent girl. And an extremely valuable ally.

Carefully stepping over the remains of the dorm-fight weapons in the darkness, Kelly, barefoot and also still dressed in her day clothes like Ace, padded along the wooden floorboards, distinctly aware of every tiny sound her journey made. No one stirred as the living shadow passed. Silently, she reached the Geek's domain and crouched at the side of the bed that belonged to a tall, red haired girl who could have been easily mistaken as being asleep if you didn't notice the round, gold rimmed glasses that sat neatly on her face.

"Well?" Kelly whispered into the ear of the girl.

The girl; Polly; ended her 'sleep' and slowly sat up, pulling a black 'Apple' laptop out from beneath the covers. Innocent as the laptop looked, it had access to every single camera, hidden or not, on school grounds and could hack into practically anything. The basic principle was if it had Internet or Bluetooth, Polly could get into it. This was a very useful tool for checking up on the background story of newcomers by checking their blogs, MSN, school and even government records. This meant that before they'd even met a new girl, they knew almost everything about them, including the incidents that made them enrol at St Trinian's. Very useful thing, blackmail.

Kelly motioned towards the door, and, after a few moments, they were out of the dorm and inside the Art room. Polly put the laptop on a table and upon opening it, the results from a search engine popped up. Multiple pages appeared a few clicks later in different corners of the screen. She shook her head.

"So, you've got nothing," Kelly stated.

"Not a thing," Polly confirmed. "There is no mention of an 'Ace' anywhere in the United Kingdom, or the world for that matter."

"Nickname?"

Polly nodded. "I checked but didn't come up with much. There were only one hit and it was on a social networking site..." she paused. "A guy."

Even from outside the room the pair heard Chelsea twitch and mumble in her sleep, "A guy?" Fortunately she didn't stir again.

"A sixty year old," Polly elaborated.

There goes that idea, thought Kelly. No links, no traces anywhere on the Internet. This 'Ace' had become even more interesting. Interesting things and people caught Kelly's attention. Uniqueness was valuable and having it on your side was a very good thing.

Having nothing else to say, Polly packed up the laptop and made her way back to the dorm, Kelly following, deep in thought.

Just before the door to the dorm, Kelly tapped Polly's shoulder. "Check government records. Try looking under 'Nitroglycerin'," she suggested.

Polly spun around; her eyes triple their normal size. "Nitroglycerin?" she exclaimed in a whisper. "The colourless highly explosive liquid used in TNT?"

Kelly pointed her eyes towards the dorm, her gaze purposely lingering on Ace, who was still unmoving and undisturbed, and held a finger up ever so slightly with a nod.

Polly took a deep breath to calm herself. "Explains the explosion," she commented in a near whisper. She tried to remember what the explosion had looked like and found herself tilting her head slightly, "It certainly could have been, but where did she-"

Kelly interrupted quietly, "I don't think it was bought."

Polly looked up, sharply. "You mean...?"

"All I know" Kelly continued, "is that she knows exactly how to use it and there's another one drifting around."

"Another one?"

"She said there were three. The one on the roof, the one you saw, and one more."

Polly visibly paled. "Nitroglycerin is highly unstable when in its liquid form. One strong jolt can cause it to detonate."

"Silver can, screw top," she informed her, gesturing its size with her hands. "If you find it, hide it."

Polly nodded, and crept back towards her bed, leaving Kelly alone in the doorway.

"The last thing we need is a First Year getting her hands on a dangerous explosive," Kelly muttered to herself.

Her attention was drawn to Ace again. Suddenly worried that she was clever enough to be feigning sleep as Polly had done, Kelly slunk over. Her breathing pattern was calm and normal, she noted, but that could be faked. Heart rate, however, was something else.

Very gently, she placed two fingers on Ace's wrist. She did not react to the touch. Her pulse was slow. She really was asleep. Kelly released a quiet breath she had been holding.

"Hey there, Kitty," whispered a voice in the dark.

Kelly stiffened and forced herself to become a statue. After a moment, Ace mumbled something else and rolled over. She had been so tense she mistook 'Kitty' for her own name. As Kelly walked over to her own bed, she found herself wondering what Ace was dreaming about that gave her a smile that stretched from ear to ear.


	4. Pranks and Promises

**Chapter 3**

**Day 2; Pranks and Promises**

"_You think you're got it all under control and then everything changes."_

Ace awoke shortly before dawn. It took a moment to register where on Earth she was (England, 2006 if she remembered right, in a dormitory at a school called St Trinian's). She resisted the urge to scratch her swollen eye as she tried to find what had woken her up. It was still quite dark in the dorm. No sunlight had touched the tip of the window, and no lights were on. Yet her sleep had been disturbed.

Ace was a light sleeper, normally. Waking before down without an explanation did not happen. Unable to detect what it was, she closed her eyes, and listened. Her ears picked up on a squeak. Unbidden, the muscles in her legs and arms tightened, the very back of her neck began to itch, her pulse quickened, she started taking more short quick breaths as her breathing pattern changed; all signs that she associated with danger. Something was about to go down.

A rope snapped above Ace's head a few milliseconds after her eyes shot open and she had hurled herself to the side as a large, threatening object fell from the beam directly onto the bed. Landing on her shoulder, she launched to her feet, suddenly wide awake and ready for action, prepared to fight or run from whatever had attacked her. These hardened reflexes allowed her to skip over a trap that had been placed on the floor and leap onto the next bed (vacant although there had been someone sleeping there a few hours ago), and the next and the next as balls of all types sudden flew through the air like bullets in a war.

War whoops of excited girls filled the air, and a chair that stood two beds ahead barred Ace's escape. Have no alternative, after landing on the last bed, she changed direction and took to the floor. Ducking to avoid being hit, she spotted a baseball bat half hidden under the mess. The familiar grip of the handle dug into her right hand as she grabbed it. Without a peek at what was behind her, she turned on her heel, and, with a grunt of effort, swung at the first ball she saw.

Ace was no baseball player. She wasn't even a sporty person. But power + anger + a shot of adrenalin was enough to the bat's contact with a softball (Soft in name only) send it out of the park. Except the dorm was an enclosed space, making it even more deadly.

Fortunately for the First Years (who had set up and activated the traps), they ducked in time for the ball to slam against the wall behind their heads and rebound. Unluckily for Ace, the ball was destined to come straight back at her, with just as much force. She froze, unable to move as the ball approached.

A gloved hand shot out of nowhere and neatly captured the ball, 20cm away from her already bruised face. The cheering and cries of encouraged died instantly as a voice shouted in an enraged tone, "Enough!"

Her proximity to the voice's source deafened Ace's ears and she would have clutched them both had she not been holding the bat. The mind numbing lack of sound after the outburst was just as painful. Popping her ears to try and restore hearing, she glanced sideways to find the owner of the gloved hand was Kelly.

This couldn't be the same Kelly she met yesterday, because this girl was mad. Her extreme features reminded Ace of the Professor when he had one of those absolutely face reddening rages. They both shared the same piercing look that made the receiver tremble in their shoes.

After a very long deep breath that spanned several seconds, Kelly announced, "Breakfast is being served downstairs." The tone implied that going was not optional.

The First Years, and onlookers began to dutifully march past Kelly in a single file out the door, before bolting down the stairs to get away as fast as possible. Ace lowered the bat to the ground, placed it down and made to follow, but cringed ever so slightly when Kelly's non gloved hand landed on her shoulder (The bruises had grown in size overnight and were shouting, "Hi ya. Remember us? Yeah, well guess what? We're going to stick around and make you hurt for a long time.").

"Not you," Kelly stated, and Ace remained exactly where she was, having no choice but to do as she was told.

Kelly's command had the same feel as the Professor's often did; the annoyed 'Ace,' tone, the angry 'Ace!' when she'd done or was about to do something wrong. From previous experience she knew what would follow. Long, tedious reprimanding, which would then move on to forced reflection, second only to the dreaded 'Now go and think about what you did' that inevitably waited at the end.

She was steeling herself for this as the last girl, the one Ace recognised as 'the underdog', slowly, with a pitying expression, shut the door behind her.

* * *

Kelly watched Ace wordlessly as the others exited. This girl was a fortress. Layer upon layer of defences had been erected to keep people out, and these defences had just been manned due to the sight of an assault on the horizon. She was a fighter; physically, mentally and emotionally. She was also guaranteed to cause trouble, because she seemed to be cocky, because she was new, and because she wouldn't keep her head down and allow others to trample over her.

That wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was inspiring how she could just keep going despite all the ambushes and people who stood in her way. Throughout her whole time spent at St Trinian's. Kelly had seen very few girls who had to live though what Ace was. Most, including some present students, would have curled up into a hole to lick their wounds by now, had they been in her shoes.

She had spirit, and the girls were attempting to extinguish it. Bringing someone down to Earth to fit their standards and opinion of them was one of their many skills. Kelly decided as she scrutinised the battered features of the girl in front of her that it would be a waste, a true crime, to allow that to happen to this chick. She was not going to let that happen. It wasn't going to be easy, but she had a newfound duty. A duty to the school and to its students.

What she wished she did know was if she was really up for it.

* * *

"What's happening?" asked a girl.

"Make room," demanded another.

"I can't see," complained a girl at the back.

Finally fed up with all the squirming around her, Polly shut the laptop lid cutting off their only way of finding out what was being said in the dorm. Multiple voices were raised in process, but after continual nagging did not prevail, most gave up.

Polly had an idea of what was going on, even without seeing it live on her computer. She had recently planted a camera in the Headmistress's office, hidden inside a bottle of whiskey (one of the few things that were always present in that room). It was only a matter of time before it was discovered, but it had already proved its worth. Through it she had exclusively seen what occurred in there yesterday morning. That made her the first to know, but she wasn't going to let on anything to anyone. The whole school would be in on it soon, but she was going to give Kelly as much time as she could to prepare herself.

* * *

Ace hated waiting. It made her feel powerless and insignificant, and her rebellious side dared her to do something. 'Go on,' it whispered, 'run for the door. Make her chase you. Nothing is keeping you here, she has no power over you. No one has.'

Once, she would have listened to it. She'd be across the dorm already, running towards freedom and never look back, even to see if she was being pursued. That voice is what drove her to that haunted house, what keep pushing her forward and, in the end, convinced her to set it alight. Even though it no longer existed, the house's spirit seemed to stalk her, forcing her to remember what she'd done. She knew the truth about that place now, but wished she didn't.

Running, although tempting, wasn't going to solve all her problems. One day she'll run and find her way blocked with no hope of escape. Or she'd tire, after all no one can keep running forever. Although, it would be nice.

Fighting her rebellious and mutinous mind, Ace planted her feet into the floorboards, and awaited judgement.

It took its sweet time coming. It was almost a standoff between Kelly's unflinching gaze and Ace's resolve. Just as her eyes began to wander, Kelly spoke, "I never thought it would be like this."

Ace met her eyes.

Kelly's tone shifted from the commanding one she had wielded moments ago to the same quieter tone Ace had heard yesterday, which confused Ace even more. "It didn't quite sink in until now, but I know it's gonna be a lot of work, and tougher than I ever imagined."

She kept running her thumb over the softball in her gloved hand.

"You think you're got it all under control and then everything changes."

Ace wondered what she was going on about. This wasn't what she'd been expecting. This wasn't a stern talking to or an argument.

"I never thought I'd have to be the bad gal,' she commented to herself, staring at the object in her hand.

Inside, Ace cringed. This was not reprimanding. That she could handle. This was bordering on... 'Touchy-feely' stuff. That was not her area. It was out of her 'zone'. She started to realise that it wasn't Kelly's area either as she looked uncomfortable too.

"I should be yelling at you, or something. That's what I'm supposed to do, isn't it?"

Here it comes, Ace thought, bracing herself.

Kelly gave a knowing smile as if she could read her mind. "But I think I'll skip over that this time."

Ace started to grin. She was being let off the hook.

Kelly interrupted her thoughts, "On one condition." She paused, put the softball down on a table nearby and pulled off the mitt. "You help me out."

"In what way?" Ace asked.

"You..." she hesitated, "... advise me."

"What for?"

"I'm to be named Head Girl."

That shocked Ace. They still had Head Girl's in 2006? At Perivale there hadn't been Head Boys or Girls but 'Prefects'. There were many other names they went under but they were essentially the leaders of the school, they one's who maintained the peace. Students generally avoided them, particularly if they were in trouble as they had the authority to march you straight down to the principal's office.

The hierarchy of schools didn't appear to have changed in 20 years. Prefects or Head Boys and Girls ruled the school under the teachers, and beneath them, in order, were: the rich, the popular, the sporty, the average, the geeks, the freaks and, at the very bottom, the new people. Ace knew exactly where her place was in the pecking order. That didn't mean she wasn't going to challenge it though. However, she would never have guessed that Kelly was at very pinnacle of the ranking. She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen how all the other girls had reacted to her rage.

"I am going to have to earn people's respect. In past, transition between Head Girl's has been chaotic. It takes them a while to accept the new one as who they are, rather than the next in line," Kelly explained.

That made sense to Ace. Predecessors often left their mark long after they had gone. Kelly was new to the metaphorical throne and until she was established and claimed her power, there would be dissent in the rest of the school.

"What's this got to do with me?" Ace wondered aloud.

"There will be scuffles, fights and not everyone will approve. I want you to help me by being my eyes and ears."

She wanted her to spy on the other girls for her? Ace couldn't see that working. She didn't 'blend in'.

"I'm not exactly liked around here," Ace told her. "No one's going to talk to me, or even talk at all when I'm around. I'm the..." Ace searched for the term, "newbie. The outsider."

Kelly was not to be daunted. "They'll be more likely to talk around you than to me."

"More likely to want to try and bang my head in again," Ace muttered to herself.

Kelly had overheard her. "It will pass. Quicker if we play this right."

What did she mean by that? Kelly's heels tapped the floorboards as she walked.

"Imagine what they think I'm doing right now."

"Being very stern and punishing me for everything I've done," Ace offered, trying to keep up with the rapid change of topic.

Kelly nodded. "And as far as they know, that's what happened."

Ah! She's got an idea.

"When they next see you, you will be more subdued, less aggressive. They will naturally ask what happened. It's against their nature not to; they're too curious for their own good sometimes. And what will you say?"

Ace's eyes gleamed in understanding. "I'd say that you let rip and scared me half to death."

The pleased look on Kelly's face told Ace she had said the right thing. "I also confiscated your explosives." Seeing Ace's look, Kelly shook her head. "No, I don't have it. Still missing." She then continued, "You will also tell them that you have to report to me on the roof every day for your punishment." She then explained, "There are no bugs or cameras up there."

It was simple enough. The pair just had to act as the girls expected them to. They would soon lose interest. Ace would also become accepted, as she was their only link for the girls to know what their new Head Girl was like. In turn, Kelly would be able to earn the respect required and know what she needed to through Ace.

It was a damn good plan.

Ace nodded in agreement. "They wouldn't suspect a thing."

Kelly was quick to correct her. "Oh they will, but they'll get used to it and won't bother about it if it lasts long enough. The main problem, though, is Josey."

"'Copper'," Ace corrected.

Not put off by the interruption, she faced Ace. "She's taken a dislike to you, and it won't be hard for her to rally others to do the same."

Ace was willing to bet she had planned this morning's trap.

"The twins will help you deal with that."

"Twins?"

"The girls you helped in the brawl yesterday," Kelly answered.

"Ah. 'The underdog' and friend. They were no mates of 'Copper's'."

The constant use of nicknames was beginning to show its toll on Kelly. "Have you got a nickname for everyone?"

"Not yet, but I'll get round to it." Ace smiled contagiously, which caused Kelly to smile too.

"Good. I'll be counting on it," Kelly commented. Then she turned serious. "Have we got a deal?"

Ace whipped the smile off her face. This was business. "You bet," she replied.

Kelly watched her patiently, waiting for something. Oh, right. Something to seal the deal.

"I've told you about me; tell me something about you. A secret for a secret," Kelly prompted.

Ace had to admit, Kelly knew how to play her cards. Kelly's secret was a pretty big, however soon to be short-lived, but what would Ace consider a secret?

She suddenly thought of one. "All right. I got one." Ace purposely made Kelly wait. "I've already got a nickname for you."

She was curious. Ace could tell by the way her eyes lit up like light bulbs.

"Here's the catch," said Ace. "I'll tell you when I show up for 'punishment'. Fair?"

She considered, trying hard not to look interested, "Fine."

They both knew she was fooling no one.


	5. The Crazy Lady

**Chapter 4**

**The Crazy Lady**

"_If there's one thing you must know about St Trinian's, _

_this is it: there are no rules. Anything and everything goes."_

After walking out of the dorm, followed shortly by Kelly, Ace was confronted by no fewer than 26 girls. They gathered around her like bees to flowers, constantly asking questions. They mainly included: 'What did she say?', 'What did she do?', 'What did you say?', 'What did you do?', and 'How much trouble are you in?'

Ace was lucky to eat a whole piece of toast before breakfast was over. The attention was overwhelming and relentless. She was far from being accepted, but each time she told the story (the carefully sculpted lie that she made extra effort to remember and not change) one more person was satisfied. The story quickly became known to all (although it was always Ace's side as no one asked Kelly). As far as everyone in the school was concerned, both Kelly and Josey hated the new girl. To help legitimise this story, Ace avoided Kelly, and Kelly avoided her.

Kelly's prediction about the twins was quickly revealed to be true. The twins became Ace's permanent right and left hands, never both leaving her side at the same time, even in a crowded corridor. They had introduced themselves, but apart from the bruise on 'the underdog's mate's' head, she had not been able to tell the difference between Tara and Tania. She was getting over that now. Tania was the bruised one. Or... was she 'the underdog'? Unable to decide, she compromised. Now they were 'The Underdogs', as they were always together, never parted.

The Underdogs talked a lot, which was good because Ace wanted to hear practically everything. She needed to get some basic understand the place and the rules, not just to spy for Kelly. She didn't want to stick out as much, and knowing the school better would help. The longer you remained ignorant, the longer you remained an easy target.

Names were flung at her every time they passed someone. It was hard to keep up, but she genuinely tried. The trio of carrot looking girls were Chelsea, Chloe and Peaches, and the group was known as the Posh Totties. They did not even notice her, so Ace took that as a good thing. They reminded her of the popular group of rich girls back at her old school, and were probably just as friendly.

On the other side of the coin, was Celia; a girl with the wild hair that looked like it had never, ever been brushed. The twins called her hair style 'deadlocks'. Computer obsessed girls were the Geeks (a stereotype that was familiar to Ace). Identifying a geek was much easier, in her opinion. You just had to look for glasses, laptop, or simple but practical hairstyles.

The Underdogs were 'First Years'. The 'First Years' group did not just contain the youngest students of the school but the most energetic and exciting girls as well, which Ace took an immediate liking to. They were very prone to impulsive action though, and Ace was sorry to see them run off to do something or other that had seized their attention out of the blue. Seeing the numerous amount of equipment they carried, Ace assumed they were going to play sport, however the girls had very focused single minded looking expressions as they left, and the twins had mischievous knowing smirks on their faces. (Another prank was underway it seemed. Least she didn't seem to be the target this time)

Girls with sharp and seemingly painful earrings imbedded into the skin of their face were Emos (Ace was rather worried about them; they looked very sad all the time and rarely smiled). They did many strange things including stuff that looked like black magic and thought dark things in general. One of them, Andrea, the red and black haired girl, really didn't get on with another girl called Taylor who was something the twins referred to as a Chav.

Ace encountered a quite a few of these Chavs. They wore lots of makeup and talked a bit strange, but they seemed normal enough, if maybe a little rude and arrogant. The Underdogs said that most of the accessories they worn had been made, not bought, however they could not explain to Ace why that mattered.

"Haven't you ever seen a Chav before?" they both asked, simultaneously as they entered yet another room.

After a short time, she was able to identify the equivalent of a Chav back at her old school. She told them she had met some people like Chavs. This statement was greeted by questions, and them insisting she tell them all about it. They were eager to hear stories about her old school and Ace obliged.

"Me and my friend, Manisha, we used to pull all sorts of pranks on people," she told them.

After hearing the outline of a few of these pranks, the twins didn't find them that big a deal.

"Did you do anything bigger?" one asked. "Something more exciting?"

"Like what you did before," remarked the other. "Tell us about explosions."

The room they were in, a kind of multipurpose area set aside for the students, suddenly went quiet, as all the other girls turned to stare. It wasn't the same kind of stare Ace had started to ignore, but one of interest. Ace realised that they really wanted to hear about her creative chemistry. Girls, interested in explosives. The concept seemed so unlikely to her that it was mindboggling.

It took a moment for her to find a beginning to the story she wanted to tell. "Back where I'm from (Across both time and space, she thought quietly to herself, but she didn't tell them that), art classes were a complete bore. Nothing ever happened. No one was really into painting or carving stuff or making pots. The guys hated it, coz they were cramped inside. They'd rather do sport."

"There were guys at your school?" a Posh Totty asked. (Which one was it...? Ah, that's right. Chloe)

"Yeah, loads." Ace answered. "It wasn't a private or religious school; in fact it was just a boring, old school. It was awful," she told the room.

"There was nothing to do in town, nowhere to go either, and nobody to talk to cause nothing ever changed there. In a nutshell, Perivale, where I lived, was boredom capital. So you either found a really interesting hobby or became a mindless zombie like nearly everyone in town. Most of the time, school was awful, and people skipped-"

"Skipped?" asked a girl, (A First Year. Umm... Nope. No idea who this girl was) and Ace mentally hit herself. You have to speak the lingo, Ace.

"I mean, dogged," corrected Ace, "nearly all their classes. The teachers were old farts, and the principal, well, he was twice as bad. No sense of humour."

What an old geezer, Ace thought to herself, remembering his downwardly turned moustache and lack of hair on his actual head. It was a little hard to remember exactly how many times she had been sent to his office, even harder to recall the amount of times she had snuck off after she had been summoned there.

"But I had a mad science teacher," Ace continued. "He was complete nuts and never locked the science supply cupboard with anything that couldn't be unlocked. You wouldn't believe half the stuff that he kept in there. But right up the back was this big box that had red letters all over it, saying 'Warning'. I opened it, and inside was a whole lot of gelignite. He had kept some from when he was younger, when you could actually buy that kind of stuff at the shops. No one knew he had any, so they wouldn't notice it going disappearing either. "

"So what did you do?" asked the twins.

Ace gave an evil grin.

As the story went on, her audience grew even more impressed. The room was captivated by her every word, and she loved it. Nice to be the centre of their attention for a good thing for once. She was just reaching the climax of the story, the bit when the art block was about to be blown apart.

"She followed me out into the corridor, demanding that I returned the plasticine to the art block. She just wouldn't stop following me. So I threw it, my gelignite, and-"

The door leading out into the corridor opened from the outside. Ace cut off her story the second she saw, or rather heard, a blonde haired oddly dressed lady enter the room, accompanied by the freakiest and blood chilling laugh Ace had ever heard from a human mouth. It was like a squealing pig trying to laugh like posh upper class royalty.

The large gathering of girls turned their heads ever so slightly to see the teacher sit down on one the coached beside The Underdogs. None of the girls reacted at all. As if just noticing the impact of her entrance had had on the storyteller, she chuckled again.

"Don't mind me," she proclaimed. "I couldn't stand having to listen through the door."

She made herself comfortable on the seat, before gazing at the utterly frozen Ace.

"Go on, Girlie!" she instructed, smiling. "I love a good story time."

Ace was speechless. The whole looked at her, daring her to continue her story. Not even the twins offered any looks or glances of advice.

She swallowed, trying to loosen a suddenly very restricted throat. "And, so..."

"Speak up, girlie," the teacher instructed. "Can't hear a word you're saying."

Ace gulped and, in a slightly louder and incredibly quick voice, ended her story, "And so it landed right in middle of the pottery pig competition entries."

The teacher glanced around at the other students. "Is that it?" she asked. "Aren't you going to describe the explosion, or the moment of impact, or the look of total horror on that the teacher's face?"

After about a minute of getting nothing else out of her, the teacher left the room, informing Ace that she needed to improve on her descriptions. Carefully timing a minute and thirty seconds after the teacher had departed, Ace made for the door, running.

She was so dead. What on Earth overcame her to tell them, and the teacher, about her explosives? It was only her second day, and she was as sure as hell that she had managed to dig herself a five metre deep trench and thrown herself in it.

She burst into the nearest room and skidded to a stop. It was the school's art block (used a lot more than hers had and unlike her old school, it was still standing), and there were paintings and sculptures everywhere. Right in the middle of the wall across from the door Ace had entered through was a portrait of the teacher. It had been labelled, 'Miss Frittion.'

Along the wall were other pictures of teachers. A feeling of dread started to grow inside Ace, as she wondered why no other teacher had been named, and why every other teacher was labelled by the subject they taught. Then she had the answer and wished she had never ever even mentioned the word 'explosive'.

The crazy lady was the Headmistress.

* * *

Kelly was growing tired of waiting on the school roof for Ace to show up. She was beginning to think she wouldn't show when Ace appeared. Kelly was ready to let out a 'You're late,' but was taken aback by the haunted face that stared off into the distance. Totally caught unprepared, Kelly gasped. All colour had been sucked from Ace's face, leaving it pale, white and blank. There was no spark in her eye nor did they gleam in the sunlight. She looked like the living dead with all those bruises, but unlike before, it seemed like she even felt that way too.

"What happened to you?" Kelly exclaimed as Ace slowly came towards her, her face frozen in a look of incredible horror. She was shocked, Kelly realised.

The twins had been showing her around. Maybe that hadn't been a good idea. It was her second day after all. The twins had discovered several of the school's secrets in the past week, (quite a record for any new girl) but they were overcurious little girls who had a habit of being where they shouldn't (Something that Kelly would have to keep in mind). One of these discovered secrets might have triggered this reaction from Ace.

Had she been to the science lab? Or, had it been Josey? Another scuffle? Ace didn't look any more beaten up than she had that morning. Maybe she won this time.

"I just met the Headmistress," Ace answered quietly.

Kelly breathed a sigh of relief. Oh. Was that all? Of all the things, Miss Fritton was nothing compared to the rest of the school's underlying hidden secrets.

Ace hung her head. "I was telling a story." She looked awfully shamed about that.

"And?" Kelly prompted.

"The Headmistress came in."

How was that a problem? Kelly wondered.

Ace hesitated. "I… was telling the story about the time I blew up the school's art block."

Despair was an odd look for Ace and it coated her features.

"She overheard me talking about explosives."

"Bet she loved that," Kelly grinned.

Ace misunderstood. "I blew it, didn't I? My second day and I'm going to get kicked out."

The smile disappeared from Kelly's face. "What?"

"She knows about my explosives," Ace repeated. "I'm gonna get expelled."

"No you're not," Kelly assured her.

"Yes, I will," Ace replied certainly.

Kelly raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to be?"

Ace glanced at her, darkly "Course not! I don't have much of a choice about it, do I?" She was starting to fire up again, but not in a good way.

Ah. That was it. Kelly had identified the problem. Ace thought she was going to get in trouble. That's how 'normal' schools worked. At a 'normal' school, if someone broke the rules, or was violent, or whatever, they got into heaps of trouble. They could get 'suspended' or 'expelled'. The Police could even get involved. This was what Ace was worried about.

Things were very different at St Trinian's and this needed to be explained to her.

"This school," Kelly began, "is unlike any you've ever seen or heard of before. Like other schools, this is a place of learning, only slightly different things are being offered. Where other schools have counselling, we have anger management classes. Where they have exams, we have practical applications."

"This is because of the types of students that live here," Kelly tried to explain. "We take anyone, regardless of past, habits, or talents, who aren't accepted anywhere else. The same goes for the teachers. Anyone, wether adequately qualified or not, can teach here. Few last long. St Trinian's goes through a lot of teachers."

"This school, it's…" Kelly almost lost her train of thought, "… the opposite to everything that comes to mind when you think of school. Homework, there isn't any. Lessons, only if you want to. Strict code of uniform, none just make it something you want to wear. Because the girls here just won't do as they're told, and what's the point trying to make them do something they simply refuse to do? They'll just come back and bite."

She turned to gaze off the roof onto the school grounds. Ace followed her gaze and spotted a group of First Years fighting some Chavs, armed with hockey sticks. Right. That's what they had been preparing themselves for. The reason behind the brawl, neither knew. Quite probably there wasn't one.

"These are no ordinary girls, Ace," Kelly announced, gesturing at the many students down below. "We have girls under 12 who are alcoholics, girls who can hack into the any computer, girls who can convince any guy to tell them anything, girls who know exactly how much something is worth on the black market and make a living off it. If there's one thing you must know about St Trinian's, this is it: there are no rules. Anything and everything goes. You understand?"

Watching the fight, Ace absorbed this information like a sponge. It all made sense. She nodded.

"A school with no rules," Ace murmured to herself.

She knew exactly what Kelly meant now, and was starting to grin like a lunatic. Colour abruptly reappeared, and the being in the form of Ace that had possessed her was vanquished to whatever dark hole it had come from. Some kind of inner fire had flickered back to life in her eyes, and they gleamed like white colds.

"Sounds like my kind of school."

They both grinned.

"There's just one thing," Ace began.

"Yes?"

"Your Principal, she's a completely barmy lady, if you don't mind me saying."


	6. Cybr Spce

**Chapter 5**

**Cybr Spce**

'_How likely is it that an art block would get blown up by a _

_Nitroglycerin bomb in the vicinity of Perivale twice?'_

It is always a good thing being able to see everything. Very little escaped your notice and that's only by accident or damage to camera or bug. Or purposely, considered Polly. It was quite possible to arrange a meeting in a room without bugs if you knew exactly where they were. The locations of some of the devices were known to all students and often teachers, but there were several that had been so expertly hidden in tucked away places. This did not include the one in the 'Chill Room'.

Ace's story was currently on loop in the dorm, as the Geeks worked hard trying to decode potential details from it. Despite the amount of information, nothing had showed up, which was almost considered an insult to the Geeks who prided themselves in believing that they could find out anything about anyone. This lack of success was beginning to ruffle quite a few feathers.

They had long since abandoned their normal sources and were searching through Government Records now; not just UK Records but pretty much all of Europe; for anything that matched. Polly and crew weren't the type to give up because of a few little language barriers. Being multilingual was another of their talents.

Polly was halfway through a German record concerning an explosion, (Not Nitroglycerin, so no luck there) when a laptop started beeping. The owner of the laptop, a brunette called Alex, exclaimed in alarm, "We've got a hit!"

All other work ceased as they gathered around the laptop. Polly had managed to get there before the rest and peered at the screen through her round glasses. What she saw confused her.

"We have already searched through these files before," Polly declared. "Why didn't this show up before?"

"I don't know. I just typed in 'Nitroglycerin' and 'Perivale' into our internal search engine, just as you said and this showed up," Alex explained, a bit in awe of her achievement.

"Put it on screen," Polly instructed.

* * *

It was an odd feeling knowing that no rules are in place. A kind of unexpected freedom, Ace thought to herself, walking down the stairs to locate the twins again. You know you can do whatever you like. You know it, the teachers know it and all the students know it. Yet, despite this, there was a reasonable amount of order due to a kind of mutual agreement between the teachers and students. Teachers let the kids do as they pleased, as long as they still got paid.

The Headmistress was head of the teachers, and the Head Girl was, well obviously, head of the girls. Head Girls were appointed by the Headmistress. Unlike other schools, the girls didn't have to do whatever the Head Girl said because she was Head Girl. There was no obligation for them to because they could do whatever they liked. The students couldn't be made to listen to their Head Girl. There was no form of formal punishment enforced by the teachers like detentions or anything like that. Punishment was delivered by the Head Girl, or by the girls themselves. The Head Girl figure was supposed to have the maximum authority, but it was the selected girl's problem to find a way of earning that respect and approval from her peers.

Some, they did and ruled with ease. Some however did not and knew the fact that they had ultimately failed to fit into their position, and had to just live with that for the rest of their remaining year that was almost guaranteed to be utter chaos without anyone in control. These failures were taken advantage of and the girls had no mercy. For a Head Girl, it was earn respect or be trampled.

This was the harsh reality of the battle Kelly had been placed into.

Ace's pity for Kelly's situation grew as she went in search of something to eat (It takes more than a few mouthfuls of toast to satisfy a teenage stomach). The sleepy, inattentive receptionist was oblivious yet again to Ace's presence as she walked past, so she took this opportunity to investigate the desk drawer (Why not?)

Her eyebrows rose at the sight of an empty bottle of vodka. Then she shook her head. Why was she so surprised? There are no rules here, remember. This reminded her of the Religious Studies' odd collection of empty bottles and cigarette stink. She decided that she should pay this room a visit for another examination, and to find her laptop and hide it somewhere less used in case the room suddenly became occupied.

Quietly and taking care not to knock anything, Ace made her way back from behind the desk. When she looked back, she realised she shouldn't have even bothered. The blond receptionist was drooling and the odour from her mouth indicated that the bottle had only recently been emptied. She wasn't about to wake up anytime soon.

* * *

'WARNING! UNAUTHORISED ACCE-

ERROR...

ACCESS GRANTED

RESTRICTED UNITED KINGDOM GOVERNMENT FILES NO: 91,203 - 91,217

FILE NO: 91,203

1:17pm, November, 5, 1986. Denotation of explosive.

White female minor, attendant of Greenford High School, detonated a liquid Nitroglycerin explosive device. None killed or injured. 24 treated for shock, including two teachers. Minimal damage to building. Windows broken due to the shockwave.

Scientific apparatus and chemicals were found missing from laboratory storeroom. Door latch was non-functional. Small stash of gelignite discovered in possession of male science teacher. Denied ownership of "such a dangerous substance." Believed source of explosive material.

Female minor fled. Whereabouts remains unknown.

EDIT 1. (November 8, 1986): Female minor reported by parent/carer/guardian. Location: Perivale. Sentence: expulsion and notice kept on existing Criminal Record. No other charges laid.

EDIT 2. (May 3, 2002) Subject's Criminal Record added to CRB (Criminal Records Bureau).

END OF FILE NO: 91,203'

* * *

"Hang on," cried a Geek. "Go back up to the date again."

Alex obliged. The room went silent as that section was read over again.

"19-what?" echoed a trio of other Geeks.

Several people sighed as another commented, "It's just another dead end!"

This feeling of defeat and dashed hopes spread quickly, to Polly's dismay. This was the only hit they'd had and it wasn't relevant. A thought nagged at the back of her mind. 'How likely is it that an art block would get blown up by a Nitroglycerin bomb in the vicinity of Perivale twice?'

Alex voiced this idea. "This is our only link," she informed the now receding crowd. "It's got half the details we've been looking for. It's got Nitroglycerin and Greenford High is close enough for someone in Perivale to attend every day." No one payed her much attention until she continued, "What about the store of gelignite? She said-"

Polly stopped and turned, remembering. "That she'd taken it from her science teacher's storeroom." She pondered this then added, "It also stated in the report that the latch didn't work properly..."

"Exactly!" Alex exclaimed. "It fits!"

A listening Geek rolled her eyes at Alex, her dark red square glasses nearly falling from her nose. "Yeah, but you're forgetting the date. It said 1986. I don't see how that can be relevant. Unless you think that the new girl is over 20 years old."

Snorts hovered in the air, and Alex reddened.

"Over 21 years old actually," piped in very smartly dressed girl. "Greenford is a secondary school and only takes students from Year 7 onwards, mostly 11 year olds. You would have to add that plus a year when she was born and then the 21, making her-"

"Approximately 33 years old," Polly finished. "And she may not have even been 11 years old."

A First Year jumped out of nowhere and exclaimed, "Over 33?"

All the other heads in the room slowly rotated to glare at the First Year.

"That is what we said," said the girl with the red glasses, with a touch of sarcasm.

The First Year, only eleven herself, was quick to defend herself. "She no look 33," she stated pointing at the screen of footage.

"That's what I've been trying to explain to Alex," announced the Geek. "She just couldn't understand how the information from the government file couldn't be referring to her." She pointed at the Ace who had been forced to halt her story about the art block blowing up after the fortieth time due to the pause button being pressed on the remote.

Embarrassed by her peers in front of her few friends, Alex glowered. "At least I found something, unlike you, Becca," she snapped at the red glasses girl.

Becca sneered. "At least we didn't stumble across some prehistoric record because we didn't set the search engine properly."

With a howl of anger, both girls leapt into battle in cyberspace (An MSN open chatroom broadcast live onto every computer in the school. The only satisfyingly 'Geek' way of arguing with someone; hacking into their computer and making it look like they're saying nasty stuff about themselves) while the others watched over their shoulders, some cheering. Becca was the clear favourite. Polly turned her back on them, both disgusted and deep in thought, and exited the room in search of Kelly.

* * *

The Religious Studies room was empty at the time Ace entered. She had just started typing in a word processing document when a massive square popped onto the screen, covering it completely. Odd symbols, words and small pictures littered the screen.

"What the-?" Ace murmured to herself in surprise.

One read, 'Ur so dm. U shod b a Chav'

In a different colour and font, was another meaningless jumble of letters. 'Lest I can count rite unlyke some ppl.'

The first colour reappeared. 'Ha! U can tlk, 33. LMAO!"

Similar lines line preceded and followed this. Ace just frowned at the screen, trying to decode what was being said and what it meant. She also really wanted to know what had just happened to her computer. It seemed to be a fight that used technology instead of words.

After carefully manoeuvring the mouse, Ace managed to open up her translator site. Without too much difficulty, she highlighted the text and pasted it into the text box on the website.

A few seconds later, plain understandable English sentences revealed themselves. She scanned over it, then compared it to the original messages. It was just like the graffiti that had been written on her laptop bag and case. To her delight, there was a distinct trend. The key to understanding this 'text speak' or 'txtspk' (This 'Wikipedia' site was pretty clever), was to read the letters exactly as they sounded. Or add vowels between the letters, or they were abbreviations, or they meant a whole word.

Damn. And she thought she was starting to get it too. She needed The Underdogs. They'd tell her. Probably already know what's going on.

Keeping her laptop open, she walked down the corridor and up the stairs. The messages kept coming, and each one that arrived caused a 'Beep' noise. It had long passed irritating and getting close to hitting a nerve with each sound.

'WUP? Just coz u fink YSC dnt mean u r.'

'Wht eva. U no good hckng anyway. ACORN, or wht?' (An acorn? Man, Ace thought, are all 21st Century comebacks are that bad?)

There was a long pause before an answer replied. 'Jst u w8, im gonna get u!' Comments like this filled the whole box.

Ace rolled her eyes. Would this thing ever stop?

* * *

"Great," Kelly murmured under to her breath. A Geek fight, just what she needed right now. "Log me in."

Her lone audience member, Polly, nodded in agreement. She passed her a laptop, possibly the most ordinary in the entire school. The conversation filled the screen, like all over computers, but an empty 'type box' had been added to the bottom. This was a new addition and all thanks to Polly's tampering. Taking less than half a second to choose a different colour from the other typists, her message rapidly fell from her bright red fingernails onto the screen.

'Grrlz, bth of u's GOI!'

There was nothing for a moment, then, "WTHRU?"

There was no hesitation as the reply was typed. "HG, so scat."

The whole box suddenly collapsed in five seconds. That's right, Kelly thought with a savage grin. That'll shut them up as they bicker over it. They better start running for the hills, for there was a new Head Girl around. And no one knew who.


	7. Secret Diaries

** Author's Note: Short chapter here but the next is longer, I promise. Send in a word if you like or have any consructive-critisism. **

** This is my first St Trinian fic after all and you ahve any ideas about how to improve those characters, I appreciate any advice. **

** Ta. **

**Chapter 6**

**Day 3; 'Secret' Diaries**

'_The electronic heart of the school was pumping again, and _

_the scent had been relocated. The hunt was on.'_

Kelly played it cool as she entered the dorm the morning after the cyber battle. What was that? Head Girl? Nope, haven't heard about that. She didn't know anything, nothing, zilch, about who this Head Girl was. There were already plans in mind for how to reveal her new role to everyone, but she wasn't bound by them. Plans go awfully astray when the girls of St Trinian's are involved.

Monitor after monitor were crammed into every available space of the Geek's domain. Aces dominated them. Kelly knew they had been monitoring her, but maybe this was a little too much for just another new girl. Fair enough, Ace was different, however that didn't mean that the Geeks needed to go to this much trouble to keep an eye on her.

On all the screens but one were pieces of footage on a loop. The current Ace was walking through the school holding a pretty snazzy laptop (Apart from all that graffiti and St Trinian tribe marks all over it), and looked rather confused. The cyber battle must have showed up on her computer too. The laptop was certain to be the next target for the Geeks, if they hadn't already gotten into it already.

"What's been going on in here?" Kelly asked with an annoyed tone. Her presence was swiftly noted and a few heads turned, two of them were Alex and Becca.

"Well..." one girl tried to explain, but Kelly raised a hand.

"You know what, forget I asked. What I do want to know is what you've got."

Both Becca and Alex looked away, so the other girl continued, "We searched through government records. Nothing."

Becca chose this moment to interrupt, "Yeah, except Alex found something."

Half the dorm snorted a little with laughter, and Alex looked down, ashamed. This confused Kelly. If they had been some success, why were they laughing? And why was Alex acting oddly?

"Am I missing something here?" Kelly demanded, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"The record was old," Polly explained, having just arrived via a different entrance. "November 5th, 1986, a liquid Nitroglycerin explosive was set off at a high school; Greenford High; nearby Perivale by a young female student. It's the only lead we've got."

Becca was quick to rub in the fact to Alex. "Nineteen- eighty- six. Twenty-one years ago. And Alex," both girls glared at each other, "thought it might be related to the new girl."

Kelly ignored the mocking looks they shot at Alex. "Couldn't it? Is Ace that girl's daughter?" she asked.

They all stared blankly at her. Ah, thought Kelly. After finding out this information and the fight breaking out, this idea had been lost somewhere in between.

Polly finished some calculations in her head. "She could be. This student would be about 33 now. How old do you think Ace is?"

Kelly pondered that for a second. Ace looked young, but her eyes were much older than the rest of her. Question was could she be as old as Kelly? No, she decided. Ace had to be a tiny bit younger.

"About 16," Kelly offered. "Maybe 17."

Polly nodded. "She would have been born in 1990. Her mother would have to have had her when she was sixteen, or slightly older as we don't have a definite age. It is possible though."

Kelly clapped her hands together twice, startling the others. "Right! Now we're getting somewhere. Start looking."

Tasks were quickly distributed among the Geeks; look up birth records in 1990, steal Ace's enrolment form from Beverly (who had gotten to the whisky again last night, which would make obtaining the file very easy), find out more about the student in 1986 through school and the Criminal and Police Records that were mentioned in the file. A patrol schedule was arranged in case the subject of their investigation came upstairs. The dorm suddenly burst to life with excitement. The electronic heart of the school was pumping again, and the scent had been relocated. The hunt was on.

Yet one did not become as absorbed into the thirst for knowledge, but sat there, looking at Internet page after Internet page without really seeing them. A hidden resentment was boiling, and bubbles were starting to form. Elsewhere on school grounds, someone else shared this hatred. Hatred masked from view, hatred that needed channelling was blocked and unable to escape. Soon though, this feeling would burst free, howling in victory and running rampart through the school, and no one and nothing save a fellow huntress of the night could have any hope standing in its way and surviving.

* * *

The thing about classes at St Trinian's was that you went to whatever classes you felt like. So if you hated Maths, don't go. Even the atmosphere in the classes was different. More relaxed and laid back. Less pressure to do work, more chances to enjoy what you were doing.

You could do pretty much whatever you like too. Focus on what you enjoyed doing. For some students it was Art, (Quite a few judging by the numerous paintings) or Music, (a bit neglected at the moment). For Ace it was chemistry. If there was one thing she wished she had stuck around to learn, it was her O levels. Not for the grade and marks or whatever (Ace couldn't care less), but as she got better at it, she could improve her Nitro 9.

The timing device needed fine tuning. Losing her latest prototype hurt. She had been getting somewhere with it too. Despite this, she later struck gold. She found the science storeroom from heaven (Or hell, depending on your view on dangerous chemical reactions) and she quickly recovered. There were enough Nitro ingredients to blow the whole school sky high and hurl bits of it across the vast school grounds like ash. There was a distinct lack of potassium however.

First things first Ace, she thought to herself. Fix the timer.

When she entered the chemistry lab for her first 'lesson', she already had some Nitro equipment in her bag. No one looked up at her as she walked past and found some empty bench space. Not even the teacher, a guy, (They let guys teach at all girl boarding schools?) blinked when she pulled out the timer she was building. No one bothered her. The First Years behind her were unusually quiet. She didn't know them, but the room was so quiet that it was like the whole room was empty.

There were some interesting stuff going on, Ace noted from the reflection of the glass objects all around the room. Some odd kind of piping rollercoaster was propelling some kind of clear liquid across the room into a few beakers. Two of the tubes lead down to the ground for some reason. A few Emos were stirring some kind of substance over a Bunsen Burner. Ace didn't know what to think of their overly obsessed smiles plastered to their faces. Still, at least they were happy unlike before.

She made no progress with creating a new timer. Very little of the tools and equipment she used were familiar to her. They had the same names, but they worked differently, and this frustrated her. She was going to be Nitro-less for a long time unless she figured this out soon.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the dorm, the Geeks had taken over Ace's computer. They had to turn it on remotely as it had been off, but it was mostly empty. There was very little Internet history and no e-mail or personal networking user accounts (Unheard of in the present day). The computer had to be brand new, but it was "so last year" in computer compatibilities. It didn't even have any anti-virus software or anything on it.

There were only twenty three files on the computer. Twenty music files, that was standard and came with the computer, and three word documents. The first was practically empty, with only five words; _'Day 1 at St Trinian's.'_ If this had been planned to be a diary, Ace hadn't updated it yet. The second was a copy of the cyber battle that occurred earlier. Alex and Becca pretended not to notice.

The third was longer and was the greatest success of the hacking.

'_I've been warned that there are some really skilled people that can 'hack' ("gain unauthorized access to data in a system") into other people's computers by getting through passwords and things to see what's on them,' _the document read. _'This means they could probably open anything saved to this computer. I've been told not to worry, because they probably won't.' _The irony did not escape the Geeks humour. '_Nothing interesting is on here anyway._ _What dark hidden secrets would I have the stupidity to write or type down? I've got more sense than that.'_

The Geeks sighed sadly for there wasn't anything else. So much for that idea.


	8. Fights, Flight and Flash

**Chapter 7**

**Fights, Flight and Flash**

"_Rather snappy little thing, isn't she?"_

Josey was brimming with energy. It had been rather satisfactory however seeing the new girl receive the blame. She had also lost the chance of protection from Kelly due to this morning's activities. That was good. No one wanted to cross and angry Kelly. Josey knew how confrontations with this kind of Kelly went. She was quite experienced in being on the receiving end. But this new girl was dangerous, because she wasn't scared. She had also made Josey look stupid in front of everyone, and she was going to pay dearly for that.

The new girl was in the science room and was currently untouchable due to the sensitivity of the activities that occurred in there. Anyone who disturbed them found themselves excluded and ignored by the rest of the school. It affected the business. The corridors outside however were very easy targets for an ambush. The trap was set, all other exits were blocked. All they had to do was start a diversion to flush her out.

Chaos was the middle name of all St Trinian's girls. You just needed to press the right buttons, twist the right arm and point them in the right direction.

"Oh, Taylor," Josey called in a singsong voice.

The dark haired Chav nearby turned. "Whatdya want?" she asked with a scorn. "Coz I don't like how ya looking at me."

Josey was used to this kind of aggression from Taylor, but she brushed it aside, pretended not to notice. "Well…" she began slowly. "I was just going to..." She hesitated. "Never mind."

This pause drew Taylor in like a magnet. "What?"

"It's nothing, really," Josey assured her. This, thankfully, did exactly what it was intended to do; fire her up.

"If ya got something to say, then spit it out and tell me!" Taylor demanded.

Ever so reluctantly, Josey walked over and told her quietly, "You know your mascara? Well, Andrea was seen using it this morning when you were gone."

Taylor looked horrified. It's a major offense to steal other people's makeup. She was also aggressively protective of her mascara supply. "We'll see about that," she declared, marching straight through the crowd of people in the corridor.

Truth be told, it was quite possible for Andrea to have used someone else's mascara as there was so much under her eyes (One of the common traits of the Emos). Her eyelids had to be permanently stained black, and her eyes widened at Taylor's fierce gaze and purposeful stride. They then narrowed readying for yet another battle, for the pair had been at war with each other since forever. (No one could remember what caused the first fight, but that hardly mattered since they had been at each other's throats countless times over the years)

"You little scab!" Taylor declared.

Andrea was visibly surprised. "What did I do?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Don't give me that 'I don't know' stuff; I know you took my stuff.

Damn, Andrea thought. She'd noticed the long silver raindrop earrings missing. She had hoped it would have taken longer, but no point worrying about that now.

"So what if I did?" Andrea asked. "You didn't notice for two days, so it's not like they're important or anything."

In response to that, Taylor attacked with the howl of a high pitched beast. In the background and away from the action now, Josey smirked. People were so easy to manipulate, especially when you'd been around as long as she had. She slunk off to begin stage two.

* * *

The most horrendous cry caught the attention of everyone inside the chemistry lab. Following everyone's lead, Ace made her way to the windows and door that lead out. An Emo and a Chav were the source of the commotion. Neither of them were very good at fighting, she noticed. They just kind of leapt, scratched and slapped. A crowd had gathered; news travelled fast around here; and cries of "Fight! Fight!" started bouncing off the walls.

It had to be said that it could never be boring here, Ace thought to herself. But she hated just watching it. Her senses were in 'battle' mode and her highly tuned senses detected the back door, away from the fighters in the corridor, had opened.

"Oi!" cried a voice over the screaming. "You! New girl!"

There was no mistaking who that meant nor who had said it. Ace knew it was Copper before she even turned her head. Neither moved as they caught each other's piercing eyes.

"How fast can you run?" she taunted.

Ace's eyes narrowed. That question again. It seemed to haunt her everywhere she went. Her blood boiled as the object in the other girl's hand was revealed. Silver, screw on top. Her hands clenched into fists. The prototype, the original prototype that was close to perfection. Was it valuable? Not to anyone but her. Was it dangerous? Very.

Copper gave a one sided grin and bolted out the door, laughing. Ace zoomed after her quarry like a bloodhound. Her thoughts solely became 'recover the prototype' and 'Revenge, revenge', and they were put on a loop that ran over and over again, as her feet devoured the distance between her fleeing target and herself. The grass should have caught alight in her wake as her feet pounded it so hard and fast.

Ace did not feel the pebbles of the driveway that stabbed at her feet through the shoes. Josey did however and slowed down, then changed course. As they ran past a shed she weaved left and right in a zigzag, but Ace was a missile and followed her every move.

Josey was fit. She was one of the fastest runners of St Trinian's, but she was struggling to keep her pace. But Ace hadn't been brought up on MacDonald's and instant meals nor had she spent most of her life watching the telly (nothing had ever been on) or in front of a computer.

Although Josey would never admit it she was afraid of being caught by the crazy girl on her heels. But she did not really know fear. She had never been alone in the middle of an alien city. She hadn't faced a dragon, or a man who could freeze your brain just by touching your head. She had never been shot at by Daleks or Cybermen. She hadn't stared down robot clowns or protected herself, a friend and a magic sword from a witch with a piece of chalk off the dartboard. She hadn't done any of these things, and so Ace was at an advantage.

Josey was no wimp, but the sight of an enraged Ace running and tackling her to the ground was the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen. The entangled pair fell to the ground and gathered momentum as they slid down a hill. They landed, and Josey struggled to keep the silver canister in her hand as Ace tried to snatch it from her. It fell from her grip, and gently rolled away. Josey saw Ace's eyes turn to look at it, and went to throw a punch, only to have her arms pinned together and find herself shoved face first in the ground.

Ace jumped to her feet and scooped the can up. She turned and saw Josey, her face covered in grass stains and bits of dirt. The irony was sweet in her mouth.

"Don't even think about it," Ace told her in a dark tone when she went to run at her. She held the can up in one hand and placed her hand over the screw on its top. "This registers 9 on the Richter Scale, and I'm just crazy enough to think about detonating it," she warned.

The look in her eyes was serious, however, unknown to Josey, Ace was bluffing. She needed this canister. There was no way she was going to blow it up just to prove she would.

"You must think you're so tough," Josey baited, but she might as well have screamed at the moon demanding it to never move.

"You must think so much of yourself," said Ace evenly. "But really, you're just a bully, and I'm your target. Well, here's some news for you; I don't get beaten."

Josey snorted. "Sure you don't. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?"

Ace smirked. "Yeah, I have. I saw bruises, scratches and a black eye. Just like what I see right now."

Josey's face was thunderous. Oh revenge was good.

"I'm not afraid of you," Ace told her.

"Maybe you should be, "Josey retaliated, but she was beaten.

Ace shrugged as she turned back to the school buildings. "Doubt it. There are scarier things than you. Sorry if that disappoints you. I'm Ace. If you've got a problem with me, deal with it."

The thoughts that swarmed in Josey's head were ones of violence. She would get even with this stuck up chick, even if she had to wait for days.

* * *

Ace thought she was being maybe a little too paranoid while carrying her single Nitro 9 can around everywhere. No one had even looked menacingly her way for the rest of the day. Despite this, her nerves twitched with each footstep that echoed down the narrow passageway she was being lead down. Dark hidden places held secrets, not all friendly.

The whispers of "Come and see," at nearly 11pm had jolted her awake like someone had screamed in her ears; possibly a side effect of being on the watch for pranks being set at night. The sight of The Underdogs in her face wasn't the rudest of awakenings, but it wasn't the nicest either. It only took a moment to search for traps, pull on her shoes, (the only things she took off when going to sleep) and creep through the maze of bedding, clothes and who knows what else that lurked in the shadows of the dorm. Multiple beds had been abandoned, including, Ace noticed, Andrea's, Taylor's and most of the first years. Unable to help being a bit suspicious, Ace fought to keep her lead weighted eyelids from closing to keep note of her surroundings.

After motioning to keep quiet, her guides let her down two flights of stairs (avoiding the fifth and eighth stair each time for some unknown reason), around a corner and opened a door to reveal a walk-in cupboard. A stack of boxes were pushed aside to reveal a passageway. It didn't head downwards to a basement. In fact it was a tunnel leading out. One of the twins walked into the darkness, and after a glance at the other twin, Ace followed.

Lighting in this passage grew less and less, and disappeared completely after the boxes were replaced in front of the entrance. A shiver ran down her spine as the atmosphere sunk in. Cold, stone tunnel being travelled through in the middle of the night. The lack of lighting was only made worse by the silence both in front and behind her. Neither of the twins said a word, and, although extremely tensed by this and beginning to get worried, Ace said nothing either. Some pipes jutted out from the roof and ran along the passageway.

As the tunnel finally reached its end, Ace found herself quietly saying, "I hope this isn't where you keep the dirty laundry." Her humour earned a grin from both of the twins, who then showed her through another hidden doorway, and into...

A garage? A car was parked in front of them, a large car in the process of being painted white by several students in orange overalls. Ace's eyes wandered around. It was a very large garage (Well, she assumed it was a garage as there was a car and numberplates covered two walls), and there was all sorts of stuff lying around or sitting on shelves. Lots of boxes too that had some odd looking objects in them. A kind of blue light lit up a section of the garage. It had all the makings of a crazy scientist's laboratory.

The twins lead her away from the curious blue light and towards a corner where a conveyor belt was pulling large metal cages of glass bottles. A familiar smell catching her attention, Ace walked over and followed it along, investigating the contents of the cages. If she knew that smell as well as she used to... She took a deep sniff and stopped, deep in thought. Yep, it was definitely...But that meant...

A twin tugged at her arm and she allowed herself to be pulled towards the start of the conveyor belt. A pipe hung from the ceiling and dripped a colourless liquid into a funnel positioned above a large container that was being heated by a gas stove thing underneath. Some large containers sat beside it, collecting the liquid from other pipes. It was a brewery, Ace realised. They were making their own alcohol (And by the smell it had to be vodka). Some First Years looked up from their packing of bottles and their eyes widened when they saw her. They turned to each other, startled expressions on their faces, however the twins' appearance by her side silenced any possible remarks and the group resumed their work.

A bottle was handed to her and she examined it, before giving it a quick whiff. It smelt like the real stuff. "Nice," Ace commented, giving her nod of approval and the twins shared a secret smile. "Do you make a lot of your own grog then?"

"Yeah," the pair replied, perfectly in sync.

Ace found herself grinning. "Wicked."

They eagerly showed her around their secret factory where all the girls had snuck off too. Something was missing. There was so much stuff. Most of it was grog, but there were other boxes whose contents made Ace grin even more. The science block was now her second favourite place in the whole school. Flamethrowers, wire (Barbed and unbarbed), timing devices, matches, oil, darts (very large and pointy darts), baseball bats, hockey sticks, two crossbows and a few guns with piles of ammunition attached.

Oh, the Professor would disapprove!

"All right, ladies, all right!" a loud male voice rang out over a growing murmur. "Keep your wild hair on so we can get down to business!"

In an overlooked corner of the garage was a very odd bloke with kinda curly hair which he hid under a black hat. He blended in to the surroundings remarkably well, not just by his fairly dark clothing, but his entire manner. His height certainly helped; he wasn't especially tall nor short. Just the kind of average guy, Ace supposed, but there was a weasel feel about him. He was slim, his eyes were very attentive, and his face wasn't memorable. He also had a very odd accent.

"Who's the curly weasel?" Ace asked the twins.

"That's Flash," they replied, then walked over to him, a sceptical Ace wandering behind.

Flash recognised them straight away. "Ah, there you are then. So have ya got another deal for me then, or is it just the usual?"

Another First Year placed a cage of vodka on the table between them, and one of the twins pulled a bottle out and set it down. As Flash examined the bottle, the other twin outlined the deal. "We'd like half the payment in cash."

Flash eyed them, warily. "Why? Was something wrong with the goods? One of the paint guns didn't go and explode did it? The bloke did say they had a bit of a battering but they were cheap!"

They shook their head.

"We're all stocked up at the moment."

The other added, "We obtained extra supplies at beginning of term."

He glanced at them then nodded understandingly. "So you wanna stock up on the cold hard stuff. All right, I'm feeling generous, so I'll give you a third."

"Half."

Flash held up his hands in mock defeat. "Alright, two sixths."

"That's the same thing, weasel," Ace declared from the corner she's been watching them from. "They're not gonna fall for a trick like that. They're not stupid."

Flash looked from one twin to another. "Who's the dark horse then? Another new recruit? She don't look like another kiddy like you. She looks like a young lady."

"I ain't no young lady, curly," Ace responded. "Just as you ain't handsome."

Flash clutched his heart with his hands as though shot, and a few onlookers giggled. "You wound me. I combed my hair specially."

Ace snorted. "Might as well stop bothering then. It's a waste of time, if you ask me."

"Rather snappy little thing, isn't she?" Flash commented to the twins and his small crowd.

"I'd say she's more explosive than snappy," said a voice, "But that'd be telling."

When had Kelly got here? Ace wondered. She had been gone when she'd been in the dorm. There must be another way to get here from the school. Her arrival did an odd thing to Flash. He suddenly pulled his feet off the side of the table and sat himself up properly, instead of leaning on the back of his chair.

"Oh, h-hey there, K-K-Kelly," Flash managed after a moment.

Ace's keen eyes noticed that he was flustered. He wanted to impress her. Even though hardly an expert in these kinds of things, she knew he fancied Kelly. 'Please,' Ace begged silently. 'Let Kelly have enough sense as I think she does and not go all fluttery eyed at him.' As though hearing her thoughts, Kelly did not react in any way.

"I was just," Flash explained as though to defend his actions, "I was just t-telling the girls that I couldn't afford to pay half the pay in cash coz-"

"He was trying to rip 'em off," Ace explained simply before Flash could find time to finish.

Kelly's eyebrows rose and Ace instinctively thought 'cat' and then, a little shamed, shoved the thought to the back of her mind. "Was he now?"

Flash scratched the back of his neck, reluctant to admit the truth. "Yeah... Well... I..."

"You're not trying to shift shop and go somewhere else, were you Flash?" she asked, very upfront and aggressive.

"Course not, Kel. I was just-"

"Trying to make more profit?" Kelly asked holding a finger up to point at him. "We both know you already fetch two fifths of the total pay. That's the deal, remember."

"I remember!" Flash answered, a little too loudly. "The market's a bit down in vodka at the moment, so I wouldn't be able to make enough to make two fifths worth much."

Kelly took a few steps towards them and stopped as though considering. Then, "I'm willing to listen. What is selling well?"

"Well," sniffed Flash, "fire-arms are always stable, Beverly's pills are selling like sweets in a school, gold-"

"Something we can make, Flash," Kelly reminded him.

"That's all I got, Kel. Anyone else have any ideas?"

The atmosphere sank into a bit of a depression, as everyone tried to think of something. Ace tried to come up with one but something else was bothering her, and wouldn't be leave her alone.

"Why isn't there any potassium in the science store?" Ace asked one of the twins.

"It's an explosive," they replied, in a much quieter voice. Ace's voice hadn't been as quiet as she'd thought. "They don't provide them except to businesses with a permit."

Well that's rubbish, thought Ace. Sounds like you can't do anything interesting in chemistry anymore. When all eyes turned to her she realised she'd announced her opinion aloud. "So..." Ace continued, a bit nerved by the attention. "Why don't you make some and flog it?"

Kelly had a glint in her eyes; approval. "Couldn't you make some?"

Ace suddenly felt very uncomfortable as the twins looked expectantly at her. Gee thanks Kelly, she thought to herself. "Er…" She wasn't overly keen of the idea of making Nitro 9 just to be given to this guy to sell on some illegal market. "I dunno if you've got the right stuff."

Liar, her inner voice told her. They have almost everything you could ever dream of having. You just don't wanna share, you greedy-

"What would you need?" the twins interrupted, a bit too over-eager.

Ace mentally grimaced. "Well… Gelignite for a start. The proper stuff, the older the better. And some other equipment."

"What kind of equipment?"

"I… can't say."

"Bet she can't make it," whispered a voice behind her.

Ace overheard them and went to answer back, but another girl beat her to it. "Bet you five quid she can." The girl was a Geek. "She was working with a detonator in the lab,' she explained. "Highly delicate stuff too. She knew what she was doing. I would never lose a bet on her homemade explosive making abilities."

Flash's eyes lit up like little light bulbs. "Homemade explosives?" he exclaimed. "Who is this girl?"

Kelly's heels clicked on the floor as she moved over and placed a hand on Ace's shoulder. "This is Ace," she introduced, "and as I said, she's rather explosive, if you know what I mean."

* * *

About half an hour after Flash's departure in a freshly painted car with a full load of vodka, everyone steadily vanished back to the dorm for a quick nap before having to get up for breakfast. Unfortunately for Ace, she had lost the twins as she examined a few potential Nitro cans; not that she was thinking about selling her creation. What if her Nitro was used to blow up building or kill people? It was wrong! She would be the one to blame! The thought of other people using her cans for unknown purposes secretly made her stomach churn.

The minute she looked away, the twins had vanished, and Ace found herself alone in the dark. The lights in the garage, or brewery as it should be called, flickered off, and Ace had to stumble along to find the entrance to the passageway back to the school. Had to be somewhere over here, she reasoned. She found the wall, and felt along it for the entrance to the tunnel. Fortunately, it hadn't been closed, (Maybe it never did at this end) and Ace breathed a sigh of relief.

Something clattered to the floor behind her, and she spun around. What was that? She searched through the blackness for a shadow, or an outline. Was there someone there? Her eyes started adjusting to the darkness, but there was nothing in sight. After peering into the darkness for about a minute, Ace gave up, turned and nearly hit her head on the roof of the tunnel in fright. Right in front of her in the previously empty darkness stood Kelly.

"Whoa kitty!" Ace exclaimed, trying to calm a racing heart. "You need to wear a bell or something to stop you sneaking up on people." She attempted to regain her lost dignity, "Need to give people a bit of warning when you show up out of nowhere."

Kelly crossed her arms across her chest. "You owed me a secret."

Ah, yes she did. She'd forgotten about it. Ace pondered for a moment, wondering how to phrase it. "Ok. I said I had a name for you, didn't I? I'm gonna call you Kit."

Kelly frowned, puzzled. "Kit? Why?"

Ace stared at the wall behind Kelly. "Everything about you screams 'Cat' to me. I'm sorry, I can't help thinking it."

"Why?"

It was so obvious to her, it seemed impossible that she couldn't see it. "Your hair," Ace began, "your eyes, the way you walk and talk. That doesn't help either," Ace added, pointing at the leather collar around her neck. "I am serious about the bells by the way, Kit."

Kelly turned her back.

Ace was quick to retrace her steps, "Sorry, Kelly. I couldn't help it." She tried to explain. "It's like that 'Flash' bloke. He reminds me of this other guy I met a long time ago when I had the misfortune of working in a café. Clever, sneaky, involved in dodgy deals."

"That sums up Flash."

"Thanks for bringing up the explosives, by the way," Ace steered the conversation to a safer ground.

"You mentioned it," was the reply.

"I didn't mean for me to make it!"

"Who else could? The Geeks? The Emos? The twins?"

She had a point. She couldn't imagine any of them playing around with sensitive and very reactive substances. Although...

"Well," Ace muttered, "I wouldn't put it past those two to try." For some odd reason she could see the pair of them carrying explosives in her mind.

She wasn't all that surprised to hear that, they have long passed the stage of being content with playing around with matches. That sounded like the pair. Who would have thought they were arsonists as well? It seemed that they had more in common with Ace than she had first thought.

"Burning a building down isn't as good as blowing it up," Ace assured her. She knew the feeling well.

"Another thing," Kelly continued. "You need to keep a closer watch on your cans. They have very light fingers."

A silver can appeared in her hand. When had they...? Before she'd woken up, Ace realised.

"Sorry," she apologised. "I will." She pocketed the can, and found the darkness had engulfed Kelly in that short amount of time. She'd vanished. Thinking she was alone, Ace shook her head. "As I said, you need a bell, Kit."

"Please refrain from referring to me as 'Kit'," called a voice in the distance. However, the tone was light hearted with a drop humour.

Again, Ace could not stop herself, "Sure, thing Kit, I'll try."


	9. A' For 'Anarchy'

**Chapter 8**

**Day 4; 'A' for 'Anarchy'**

'_It took only a matter of minutes for the girls to judge Mr Baily as an easy _

_target, and suitable for a 'welcoming' committee.'_

Set slightly apart from the main dorm, the Head Girl's room would seem to be a large cupboard from the outside. Nothing about it was threatening but it had such a reputation that few ever dared to dare or even think of approaching this. For Head Girls of St Trinian's are powerful, all knowing, formidable, dauntless, menacing dictator-like figures. Not the kind of people to be messed with if you had any sense. They were the rulers of the school and only the Headmistress had any partial authority over of them. With the power they had, they could make the next month of your life suck. A whisper or nod could be all the difference between creating a bargain that allowed a girl to find acceptance or send them into solitude.

Somehow, they always knew who had tried to undermine them. Nothing escaped their notice. Their deity like abilities were legendary and many tales of pure daring, incredible grace, superhuman strength, moments of invisibility, fluttered around. It was also rumoured that they could read minds too without even looking at you. Head Girls kept their word, so when it was said that the room was 'impenetrable', it was not a challenge, but a statement of fact. A girl with a lot of guts would proudly proclaim that they walked up to bottom of the short flight of stairs, and their peers would be thoroughly impressed. At the top of the stairs lay a painted white line which was seldom crossed by anyone without the Head Girl's directly given permission.

There was nothing to guard the room but it was far from vulnerable. The four steel padlocks each with a different key, the thick bolt, pressurised alarm systems and the squeaky third floorboard on the stairs, were just a few of its defences. It was designed to keep even the most mischievous, cocky and thick-headed St Trinian girls out. It was windowless and no secret passages lead in or out, or so it was believed, for none could be found on any floor plans or diary entry. Although the school had been searched head to toe by several generations of curious students the existence of a secret entrance was neither confirmed nor denied by past or present Head Girls or even Headmistresses.

Rebellious girl after girl had been forced to walk away from the metal lined door, frustrated after failing to enter. The metal section had only been discovered after an axe had attacked the wooden door only to strike a barrier of solid metal that had to be half the thickness of a mattress. A metal detector smuggled into the school had confirmed that the whole room was protected by this metal shield, including the roof and floor.

It should have been impossible for anyone to get inside.

Someone however did and examined the forbidden room. None of the defences were disturbed, not even the silent alarm. The room was mainly empty with only a bed, a chest and a table and after exploration, it was found to be bare. No belongings lay in the chest, the bed had been neatly made, but the plain glass jar was surrounded by the brown crinkled remains of flowers. The dust that coated every surface told the same story; no one had been in here for a while. It seemed like the latest Head Girl had yet to claim it.

The intruder did not linger and left the way they'd come, without a single device set off.

* * *

The morning after Flash's visit was eventful. Toast with jam or butter managed to land gooey side down without fail, wether on the floor, table, hair or shirt in the food hall at breakfast, and the Posh Totties quickly evacuated. Ace didn't blame them for leaving, she didn't want sticky stuff all over her either, but she still had difficulty relating to them.

The Posh Totties seemed to isolate themselves from the rest of the school. They cared about their looks (Too much care in Ace's opinion), didn't use their brains very much at all and their fashion statements were a bit too much for her. Some of these traits, possibly trends or fads that occurred a fair way after Ace's time, could be seen with other girls and groups, but Ace coped with that fine. It was the extremity of the trends that deterred Ace and made her wince at the sight.

In comparison, the Chavs were slightly tamer. Well, 'tamer' was not the right word because the Chavs were more violent and aggressive than the Posh Totties ever were. But the Chavs did dress differently and Ace prefered it. Josey was a Chav, but Ace refused to knock out almost a third of the school's population due to the fact they could be friends of hers. Just as not all First Years were mates, some Chavs didn't belong to Josey's following. Taylor was a loud mouth and held back no punches against anyone which was appealing to Ace. Andrea was Taylor's main nemesis and the pair started bickering at the sight of each other. They could easily have been siblings, they fought that much.

The Emo group was fairly open-minded towards Ace. They didn't dislike her, but they weren't exactly asking her to hang out with them. Emos relished dark and morbid emotions, ideas and thoughts, making them a bit scary. Three of them were participating in a ritual before going to breakfast that involved some kind of worship of a dark glass ball.

With a jolt, Ace found herself worrying about what happened to Mordred and his mother Morgaine after UNIT had taken them away. Had they escaped and now their black magic was being practised by secret followers like the Emos here? After several minutes and no 'magical' things occurring, she discarded the idea. Just over reacting. They Emos weren't evil magicians, just... very odd.

The First Years liked her, that was pretty clear, but the Geeks never seemed to be around. There was a whole bunch of them but Ace rarely saw more than two or three during the day. Even at breakfast there were only four. Didn't they eat? Like ghosts, they all appeared suddenly in the dorm at night, and were gone before Ace woke up at dawn.

There was a distinct lack of the twin's presence. Neither of them greeted Ace in the morning, nor did they suddenly appear by her side. They weren't at breakfast (And it seemed odd that they hadn't been involved).

So Ace attended the English lessons that followed breakfast for the sake of something to do. The teacher, Mr Baily, was a new addition to the staff. New teachers were always taken advantage of. Give them fake names, tell them the wrong instructions, and invent rules or things that were 'traditional' to occur in said class. It took only a matter of minutes for the girls to judge Mr Baily as an easy target, and suitable for a 'welcoming' committee.

In other words, the girls took over.

"Sir?" Andrea inquired so politely, that the other girls had to hide their sniggers behind their hands or hair. "You've forgotten the game."

"Game?" asked Mr Baily confused.

"Yes, sir. The game. It is customary for a new teacher to organise a game to introduce themselves to the class and start learning names. It's very important. I can't believe that you've forgotten."

Mr Baily looked around at the faces that peered at him, confused but unsure. "Really?" He was not assured by the nods he received. He tried to find a graceful exit from that idea, "Maybe after we finish-"

"But, Sir," implored another Emo, "It's not right. You need to set the rules and then enforce them, before playing the game."

It was pointless and futile trying to reason with them, and Mr Baily was quick to catch hold of this concept and rein it back to controllable levels. However he might as well be grasping at the frayed ends of a kite soaring in the middle of a cyclone as he had as much chance of bringing order to the room as bringing the kite down to the ground. It was rather amusing to watch him struggle though, and Ace wasn't about to lend him any assistance. That would be taking seventy steps back in terms of acceptance by her peers.

Each of the multiple rules that the teacher reluctantly inscribed on the battered blackboard was steadily broken within moments of creation. 'No calling out' – conversations broke out as though on cue across the room. 'No gum' – gum was suddenly on offer to everyone in the room, including Ace. 'No leaving your desks without permission' – musical chairs ran riot. 'No throwing objects' –Mr Baily looked like he was about to faint when Andrea tossed open scissors towards Taylor and the blades embedded themselves into the wooden desk.

'No swearing' somehow disappeared off the board while Mr Baily was having a stern talk to a Chav. Two minutes after 'No smoking' was created, every window and door in the room were forced open to their maximum after the smoke alarm went off. 'No eating' was corrected to 'No eating or drinking', only to be scrapped entirely and replaced with 'No alcohol' when bottles of home brew whisky appeared from inside the desks.

Ace found herself joining in on some of the minor things, and her paper planes with the words "Nitro-9" lining the wings soared over several heads as the result of 'No music devices'; an MP3 speaker dock with extremely loud speakers; screeched heavy rock. Mr Baily was at a lost at what to do and stood, probably in shock, in front of the blackboard staring at the utter chaos around him. It was clear that the whole thing was a set up. It had been planned, prepared and, by observing the flawless and perfect timing of the whole situation, had been put into practise so often previously that it had become second nature to them. It was an effective tactic that left no doubt about who was really in charge.

It was impressive and it was wild. It wasn't flashy or over the top, but polished, successful and precise. It was wicked.

"What happened to the game?" asked a First Year. The room went quick as they 'realised' they had 'forgotten' about it.

"That's right!"

"I wanna play a game!" Ace chimed in.

It was the first time ever that Ace earned a smile from both Taylor and Andrea.

"Any ideas?" Taylor asked.

Andrea gave a very broad toothy grin that must have daunted the receiver to no end. She stared off towards the roof, "How about...," she paused, then looked Mr Baily in the eye, "Hangman."

The tone sent shivers down the victimised English teacher's spine and his forehead shone with sweat.

* * *

7 dashes were drawn in white chalk on the blackboard by a shaky hand. The class responded eagerly, raising hands and reaching for the sky, as though begging to be selected. Mr Baily randomly picked a First Year.

"'X'?" she asked.

"No," he replied. He drew a line on the board and wrote 'X' to the side.

"'Z'?" the same girl questioned.

He shook his head, sighing, and drew another line.

"'F'!" shouted Andrea.

The letter joined 'X' and 'Z'.

"'U'!" Andrea continued.

A slight frown crossed his face, realising what they were trying to do.

"'C'!" another girl proclaimed.

A dozen hands filled the air, longing to be the rebel to finish the phrase.

"'K'!" cried a First Year, delightedly.

With a smug look, Mr Baily put his hands on his hips and wrote the final letter of the offending word on the opposite end of the incorrect answers. Voices were raised in protest. Their fun was being spoiled.

"How about 'D'?" asked Andrea, "For 'Death'." To nerve the teacher even more she smiled expectantly. No one laughed, but joined in on the game.

"'T' for 'Torture'."

The class "Oooohhhh"ed and the theme of darkness continued. 'P' for 'Poisoned', 'V' for 'Victim', 'I' for 'Incision', 'B' for 'Blood.' By the time 'H' for 'Hell' had been offered, he was growing whiter with every suggestion. 'E' for 'Execution' and 'S' for 'Sacrifice' probably didn't help.

"'A' for 'Anarchy'" was greeted by a roar that caused the whole school to shake. Anyone within several miles whole have heard it and thought a bomb had gone off. With possibly ruptured eardrums, Mr Baily wrote 'A' above a dash.

'M' for 'Murder' was later added twice above the dashes. The Hangman was now one wrong answer from death.

"A serial killer!" declared an Emo and the students roared.

Finding herself laughing and grinning with everyone, Ace decided that she'd be coming to English classes from now on.

* * *

"How was it?" inquired Miss Cleaver, the PE teacher, as she took a swig of red wine straight from the bottle.

Mr Baily shuffled uncomfortably. "We played 'Hangman'."

"Really?" she stated uninterestedly, as several other teachers walked past on their way to the teacher's bar for another round.

"They were very... creative," Mr Baily answered, ignorant of the pool table scoreboard that had seven tally marks in varying positions along. "Are they always so..." he searched for a word, "imaginative?"

Matron entered with a very large bottle of vodka that was almost empty. "Yep," she hiccupped.

The English teacher nodded slowly, then left the room as Miss Fritton entered via a different entrance.

"Betting had closed," she declared to the suddenly lively room. She wandered over to the scoreboard and added up the tally. "As of today, the betting stands at 10 pounds he'll last the week, 15 that he'll last five days, and 2 pounds that he'll last until tomorrow morning. As for method of departure, 5 pounds that he'll run off in a hurry, 3 pounds that he'll drive off, and a grand total of 37 pounds of him being driven out in an ambulance."

Nearly every one nodded and Beverly was suddenly shaken from her fantasy land. "Anyone want to bet on who'll deliver the injuries?" she asked.

"We already have Beverly," Miss Fritton reminded her. "I've got my money on the twins." She grinned a winning smile and then sipped a glass of champagne. A thoughtful expression chose that time to appear. "Although that new girl's rather good," she added.

"The new girl?" asked Matron. "The oddball whose payment turned up to be fake?"

"Hmm. She's quite interesting actually."

The other teachers looked sceptical, but Miss Fritton smiled knowingly.

* * *

"News is in, girls," Kelly informed the gathering in the dorm. "She said she burnt down a building."

Every head in the room shot upright, startled by her arrival, but were quick to mask their surprise. "We found a file like that," Polly answered.

Without another hint, every Geek in the room put their head down and rapidly searched for it. It was located and put it on the big screen.

* * *

GOVERNMENT FILES

FILE 91,180

March 21, 1983. Arson attack on Gabriel Chase.

Arsonist scaled Gabriel Chase's walls and set it alight. Decrepit and abandoned for over 30 years. None were killed or injured.

Offender, white female minor, was identified by witnesses; several other minors. Motive: Provoked by incident outlined in FILE 91,179. Found guilty of arson. Sentence: Unsupervised probation and Criminal Record established. Duration of probation: 6 months.

EDIT 1: (May 3, 2002) Offender's criminal record has been added to CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) from PNC (Police National Computer) as Criminal Record # 79,249,183.

END OF FILE 91,180'

* * *

"Bingo," Kelly breathed as the screen zoomed in on the vital piece of information.

Polly and Alex were already typing the number into the Criminal Records Bureau on their laptops, as though racing to be the one to find it first.

"Got it," Polly announced. She blinked then fixed her glasses higher onto her nose. "That's odd. There's nothing there."

"It's blank?" asked a Geek.

"No, but… Look." Five of them and Kelly all crowded around behind her. She pointed at her monitor. "Half the information's not there."

The file showed a table with the word 'Classified' stamped onto nearly every section in bright red in capitals.

"Who puts 'Classified' on a criminal record?"

"More importantly," Kelly interrupted, "Why would someone want to stop people from knowing about this data?"

That got them thinking. The only information it provided was gender, complexion, eye and hair colour and occupation. It was very suspicious and gave off vibes that someone somewhere was trying to hide something.

"It doesn't even give her name," noticed a Geek. "Is she that 'Classified' that even her name is top secret?"

"Hang on. Did she say that she burnt down a building?" Polly asked.

"She implied it." Kelly then thought about it. "But was she talking about her mum or herself?"

"I'm confused," stated Polly. "The two of them, mother and Ace, keep coinciding. We don't know if she's talking about her mum or from personal experience. They're so similar. Trouble making must be inherited."

The group nodded in agreement. The more they learnt about Ace and her family, the more impressed they became. She wasn't just another naughty girl. She was a very naughty girl who made her own explosives and had a parent who could have been a possible anarchist. They needed to straighten out the facts from the stories. There was only one thing for it. They were gonna ask.


	10. The Dare the Daredevil Turned Down

**Author's Note: **Thank you "carick of hunter moon" for your reviews.

This chapter (and the next two that follow) are dedicated to a friend of mine who's birthday it is today. They know who they are.

For everyone else, enjoy the next 3 chaps. :)

**Chapter 9**

**The Dare the Daredevil Turned Down**

'_There is no such thing as an easy dare when a St Trinian girl sets it.'_

"Truth or what?" Ace asked the collection of girls who were all sitting in a circle on the dorm floor.

"Truth or dare. Come on."

It had surprised Ace to find a total of four Geeks in the one place after entering the dorm at about one in the afternoon. She'd started to assume that they were deliberately trying to ignore or avoid her because they were never around and none of the Geeks she had met ever actually talked to her.

"I dunno. I'm not very good at games," Ace told them.

In the circle sat Polly and another Geek, Taylor, Andrea (Sitting as far away as possible from each other), another Emo, one of the Posh Totties; Chelsea; and Kelly.

"Well that's good, coz it's not a game," Taylor explained. "You spin the bottle," Ace then noticed the empty bottle of vodka in the centre of the circle, "and then ask the person it points at 'Truth or Dare?'"

It didn't seem too bad. The girls looked at her expectantly. This was an opportunity to get to know the girls, and it wouldn't be any help turning down the offer. Ace found herself agreeing to "Watch for a bit" and see how it went.

Andrea gave the bottle a push and it spun for a few moments then stopped, its end pointing at Taylor. Andrea looked delighted, Taylor dismayed.

"Bet you did that on purpose," she cried as Andrea rubbed her hands together, while the group grinned.

"Truth or dare?" Andrea questioned sinisterly.

"Truth," was the swift answer.

She pondered for a moment then stated, "Most embarrassing thing you've ever done."

Wondering what the point of this 'not game' was, Ace watched as Taylor started blushing. "Nothing really."

"You have to tell," Chelsea reminded her. "It's the whole idea of the game!"

"I know that!" Taylor answered sharply. "All right. Once, I was half asleep when I went to put my makeup on and..."

Everyone waited silently.

She reluctantly continued, "I ended up with nail polish on my face."

Chelsea smirked and Andrea sniggered.

How?" asked Ace, a bit confused.

The group looked at Taylor expectantly again, to her annoyance. "Someone put nail polish in my foundation."

"And glitter," added Andrea. "Red, gold and black glitter."

Taylor's head snapped towards her and Andrea ducked as a pillow was chucked at her. "I knew it was you!" she shouted.

"It was only fair," Andrea defended. "You went and switched my lipstick with Chloe's! It took ages to get the pink off!"

"That was only because-"

"Spin the bottle, Taylor," instructed Kelly trying to shut them up before a brawl broke out.

After giving her nemesis a nasty glare, she did and this time it pointed at Chelsea.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Chelsea replied.

"You're boring," Taylor told her. "How many of the numbers are in your phone belong to guys?"

"Lots."

"A number," Taylor prompted.

"I don't know. I don't go and count them all." She looked horrified at the idea of having to remember anything as trivial as the total of her contacts.

"Count them then," the other Geek suggested.

"Well there goes Chelsea for the rest of the game," Taylor declared as the Posh Totty pulled her phone out from inside her very tight shirt. "She'll be counting forever! Let me do it."

Chelsea didn't look pleased with the idea.

"Give it here," Polly said, holding out her hand, and Chelsea relented. After a moment she announced, "Two hundred and four," then gave it back. The phone went straight back to its hiding place while the group gaped.

Chelsea spun and got to ask an Emo, "Have you ever worn a single pink piece of clothing?" The answer was, "Not since I was five," which didn't surprise anyone.

The Emo spun to get Kelly. "Truth or dare?"

"Let's hear the truth," Kelly decided.

That was new, Ace thought. It seemed like you could ask what the truth would be before choosing. She made a mental note of that.

Andrea whispered something into the Emo's ear.

"Would you rather answer the question; 'Do you have Flash's number?' or do a dare?"

Several heads nodded in agreement. It was an interesting question, and they waited for the reply. If she said 'Dare', then they'd know the statement was true because she wouldn't want to admit it.

"Truth," Kelly answered. "Yes, I do."

She rolled her eyes at the roof as the girls wolf-whistled for a whole minute. After they eventually calmed down, she spun the bottle and Ace found it was pointing at her.

Kelly's eyes sparked as she asked, "Truth or dare?"

Mentally shrugging, Ace said "Truth." It was what everyone else was doing. She also didn't really know what the dares were like either.

"What's the thing you're most afraid of?"

Ace smiled. That was easy. "Clowns."

"Clowns?" Chelsea asked, unable to believe her ears.

"They're creepy," Ace defended.

"They're funny!" Andrea commented.

"Yeah. Funny faces that don't change even if they're chasing you," Ace elaborated.

That statement earned her stares. "You got chased by a clown?"

Ace shuffled her feet. "It's hard to avoid them at the circus.

When prompted, Ace spun the bottle and it landed on Andrea.

"What's the funniest prank you've ever done, and why?" she asked.

Andrea looked about as though thinking someone was watching her. "Last year I was dared to wrap up Mr Darcy in toilet paper and bandages and put him in a coffin."

"A teacher?"

"No, Miss Fritton's dog," corrected Polly.

"But I couldn't find him anywhere," Andrea went on. "So I went and found a really short First Year and bribed them five quid to let me wrap them up and pretend to be a dog while I put her inside."

"No!" exclaimed Kelly. "You didn't."

"I did."

"Prove it," dared Taylor.

"I will." Andrea got up and ran out of the room.

"While she's gone, I'll spin for her," said Polly.

She did.

"I just had a go," Ace complained.

"Tough."

"Fine. Truth then."

"Have you ever been arrested?"

Ace frowned. "No. What made you think that?"

Polly looked caught out for a moment, but quickly recovered. "I thought that maybe your school told the police when you blew up the art block."

Ace thought nothing of it. She had just surprised her, that's all. "Well, kinda. I didn't get arrested though or anything like that. Just couldn't go anywhere except school."

"Probation." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah. My spin."

"I'm back!" announced Andrea, a First Year behind her. Andrea turned to her. "Didn't I pay you five quid to let me put you in a coffin?"

"Yeah," the girl replied. "I should have made it ten, coz you left me in there for hours!"

'Did I?" Andrea scratched her ear. "Sorry. Must have forgotten."

The First Year took the comment with good humour, and then left.

* * *

The twins turned and gave each other a high five. It was the most brilliant concoction they had ever come up with. They only had to test if it really worked like it should.

"Ready?" asked one, and the other nodded.

The lever was pushed and they covered their ears, watching for the result of a whole day's hard work. The container hissed, spun and stopped. It was terribly disappointing for them to walk away from the 'dud' explosive. It was the second attempt of recreating the contents of Ace's mysterious explosives, and it had failed as miserably as the first.

The chemicals mustn't be the right ones, they realised. They had no idea what they were doing wrong, but nothing was going to stop them trying again.

Perhaps a visit to Ace was in order. Complex plans began to be laid on how to extract the mixture's exact details from her. After a moment, they reconsidered. Ace was a sport. Surely if the twins asked nicely enough she might make some for them. And then they could examine it and find it out themselves.

Yes, that's what they'll do. But first, there was word going around that Kelly was playing Truth or Dare. It was not something anyone would willingly miss seeing.

* * *

The dares had started when the twins snuck inside the locked dorm (Where many girls crowded around hoping to hear something) via a drainpipe and an open window. Not wanting to be discovered and sent out, they kept quiet and out of sight. It was high quality entertainment, because there is no such thing as an easy dare when a St Trinian girl sets it.

To Chelsea's horror, she was forced to go find Peaches and tell her that the shirt she said looked great on her actually didn't and only made her look ugly. Ace made a note not to make a Posh Totty angry when Chelsea came back with a nasty red hand mark on her cheek, and complained about it the whole time. Andrea ended up singing 'Mary had a Little Lamb' in a happy voice while wearing a light blue t-shirt, short pink skirt (belonging to Taylor) and a pink bow, while Taylor had to be held still as Andrea coated her face with dark black makeup.

Even Ace accepted a dare, but hers was a bit tame. Really, how difficult was it to touch a door located at the end of the corridor? Thinking it was a pretty boring dare Ace walked straight up to it without hesitation and slammed her hand on the door. Suddenly every hair on her arm stood on end as an electric charge ran through her. Shocked, she bit her lip to prevent a gasp of pain escaping and pulled her arm away.

The others just stared, probably proud of their trick, Ace thought darkly. But they were surprised to see Ace's arm as she sat back down. The skin had changed and become more pinkish, and when Taylor poked her, she also received a minor zap too. When touched again by Andrea, the door had lost its electricity, and nobody but Taylor believed Ace's claim of it having a current running through it or something.

Kelly was the daredevil of the group, and because of this all her dares were in a whole different league. After revealing that she had Flash's number, she took on dare after dare.

"Name something you never want anyone to know."

"Dare."

"Tell us the most embarrassing thing you've ever done."

"Dare."

In fact, nearly every question involving Flash or not was turned down, so the girls started coming up with more and more creative dares. They made Kelly sneak into Miss Fritton's office and steal a bottle of vintage wine, then had to return it to her for another dare. She plaited Beverly's hair into a knot without her knowing, (Which wasn't too difficult as Ace knew Beverly was fast asleep) and tied a set of every teacher's underwear together and fly them from the top of the flagpole.

Kelly didn't turn down a single dare. Nothing seemed impossible for her to do. Not even riding the dirt bike from the garage with a blindfold, guided only by one of the twins, seemed too difficult for her. This is possible because she was crazy and daring enough to do anything.

Because of this, the group started running out of ideas for another dare, until Ace thought of something clever. She noticed that this small gathering was the perfect place for Kelly to reveal her true colours. It was probably the best time for her to do so. However, if she had realised this too, she couldn't make up truths for herself to tell. She needed to be asked.

After Taylor's hilarious reading aloud of the fifty ninth message from Chelsea's phone ("I loooooove you soooooo much, honey snuggles!") over a megaphone, it was Kelly's turn again, and Ace seized the moment.

"Tell us if you know who the Head Girl is."

The group suddenly snapped to attention. It was the question that the whole school was asking; 'Who is the Head Girl?' They had no idea if the person who ended the MSN war really was the Head Girl as they had claimed. The Geeks had tracked the laptop down, but it was an old abandoned one no one owned. What annoyed the girls was that they knew someone had to know but wasn't telling anyone.

The moment Ace mentioned 'Head Girl', the girls went quiet. She had caught their attention for two reasons. One; she had mentioned a very big topic. The second was that it was just possible that Ace had seen and made a connection that none of them had identified before. If there was one person who knew who the new Head Girl was it would be Kelly.

For as far as the girls knew, Kelly knew everything.

"What's the dare?" she asked, swiftly attempting to judge the situation.

Aware of the alertness of the others, Kelly kept an expressionless face, masking her surprise. She had not been expecting this. Kelly considered herself a fair judge of people and their character, but Ace kept continuing to amaze her. She was always being unpredictable and it seemed as though being as unexpected and erratic as possible was part of her character.

However, throwing everyone off guard could be an advantage. Ace was ingeniously offering Kelly an opportunity, and she knew it. With some stroke of brilliance, she had seen a chance and had thrown a ball into the air. The ball was now in Kelly's court. It was a bit of a risky move for Ace, but it had the potential to be used for a grand success.

And Kelly wasn't foolish enough to turn such favourable circumstances down. The corner of her lip twitched upwards. This unconscious gesture was the sign Ace had been watching for. She needed a really big dare that would make it seem like Kelly would have to think twice before accepting it. Then she remembered what she had noticed in the garage a few nights ago.

"You have to either answer the question, or call up Flash."

Everyone gaped at her nerve to suggest such a dare. She was the new girl! New girls don't go and make demands or dares like that to well known and respected girls like Kelly. It was unheard of, and foolish. Kelly was not one to be messed with, nor someone you wanted to annoy. But this girl had guts, and this pleased them. Shy quiet girls never lasted long at this school. Ace was really starting to earn their respect as her bold act of courage impressed them all.

Their respect for Ace grew even more when Kelly chose, "Truth." She had stumped Kelly! All eyes were on Kelly, everyone's nerves on end, waiting for the answer.

Of all the possible answers, the one they heard surprised them all (except Polly and Ace who already knew).

"I am."


	11. Uprising and Chemical Reactions

**Chapter 10**

**Uprising and Chemical Reactions**

'"_Something tells me you're not the kind of person who can blend in."'_

The news flooded though the school like an overfilled dam. It poured from mouth to ear, it sprinkled across the grounds like an automatic lawn sprinkler, and it washed over every room within moments of being confirmed.

"Kelly is Head Girl."

At the announcement the surrounding area suddenly went quiet. The hush lasted a few moments before everyone continuing on with whatever they had been doing. To an outsider it would seem like they hadn't heard, but they had. They just became aware of what was sure to come.

All but a tiny fraction of the school population supported Kelly. She was the choice that made the most sense. She had initiative, she never backed down, and she was respected. When she spoke, she was heard. If she told you to do something, you did it. You didn't ask or question her. Although perhaps not noticed by the girls who were against her, Kelly already held the most authority in the school. She didn't need to become the leader of the pack. She already pretty much was.

Kelly did not seem surprised when people started whispering when she, Ace and the others left the dorm a few minutes after having enough of the game. The news had been streamed across the school through whispers, shouts and quite possibly semaphored too. Now that was something Kelly would have liked to see.

* * *

Codes were one of the girl's specialties, the others being mainly mayhem, trouble and destruction. Any student who'd been around long enough with any intelligence (Note the word 'any') could tell you what operations 'Maximum Intense Sound', 'Abandoned Room' and 'Creek Maroon' meant ("An all-night party", "Get the hell out of there now!" and "Flood the place," respectfully).

So when Ace caught a passing comment about code 'Uprising', she didn't know what was going on until she found she had been invited to a public forum. She wondered if that meant they were accepting her then learnt that there were only a select few people who were excluded including Kelly, so it wasn't a big deal that she was allowed to attend. A little put off by this, she quickly reminded herself of the deal she had made with Kelly. With an open mind and ears, Ace followed the twins and others down in the garage at eight pm that evening.

And suddenly there were over seventy girls there, all dressed in St Trinian garb and showing off their uniqueness or lack thereof. Ace was dumbfounded. She had never seen so many of them all together. Even in the dorm it seemed there couldn't be more than maybe fifty. Getting over the shock of the sheer number, Ace manoeuvred out of the passageway, where other people were trying to pass her, and into a space somewhere where she wasn't completely surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

As expected the room was anything but silent. It shook with shouts and screams until an even louder noise; terrible metal slamming metal thudding; caught people's attention. They ignored it however, then winced, covering their ears as feedback from a guitar amplifier was intensified. Satisfied she had caught their attention Polly turned the screech off and handed a mini microphone to the girl with wild hair beside her.

"As the fifty ninth meeting of the student body of St Trinian's," the girl read off a sheet of paper, "this meeting was called due to the announcement of the latest Head Girl, Kelly Jones, and the threat of uprising."

The crowd booed at this point, although it was unclear if it was because of the mention of an uprising or the formal sounding school assembly like speech.

"Since the school's foundation-"

"Oh just skip the boring stuff, Celia!" cried Andrea, voicing the opinion of the growing restless crowd.

"Yeah, hurry it up!" agreed a few voices.

The chairman shuffled the papers around and read off another page. "The question to be answered at this meeting is, 'Does Kelly Jones meet our approval as Head Girl?'"

They were going to vote?

"All those in favour raise your voice."

Without hesitation, a deafening roar erupted. Blocking it out as much as she could with her hands, Ace couldn't help but smile at their approval. She, however, did not add her own voice to the cheer. She was here to watch and listen, not to join in.

"That will be all," the girl finished, and chaos took over again in the shape of a hundred bodies all trying to escape confined room at once.

Deciding not to try her luck, Ace remained where she was. Eventually, the room began to clear and Polly, noticing her, beckoned her over. Without being outright defensive, Ace made her way over.

"Ace, wasn't it?"

She had remembered her name. Good thing she remembered hers too. "Yes. You're Polly."

"I hear you're in Josey's black book," she commented, as though matter of fact.

Um, gee. You know, I am actually starting to like the way my eye is swelling up and how my muscles are stiff all over, Ace thought to herself. Instead she shrugged. "Maybe. I just think she doesn't like me much."

As she unplugged the amplifier from the power point it was connected to, Polly continued, "She's not going be nice person to be around for a while, if you know what I mean. She's in Kelly's form after all, and had her eye on that Head Girl Badge since she arrived here a few years ago."

This was news to Ace. Kelly had opposition? And it happened to be Josey too, the same girl who'd beat up First Years and pulled pranks on new girls. Josey wanted to be Head Girl? The idea made Ace's skin crawl. Nothing good could ever come of that. In fact, it would only make it easier for her to do whatever she liked without anyone standing in her way. It was pretty scary to think it could have happened. How much support did Josey have?

"Would she have gotten the same response as Kelly just did if she had been chosen?" she asked aloud.

Winding the cord, Polly answered her question with, "You've met them both. What do you think?"

No, Ace thought automatically. The First Years would hate it and attack her with all they had if she had been chosen. The possibility of being wrong occurred to her, and, after pausing to carefully weigh up her words, Ace replied, "I don't think I should say. At the moment I think I might have a biased view of them, and it would hardly be fair to judge based only on what I've seen. Who is to say that the little I've seen of them is a true or accurate picture of their character."

Polly looked away from the amplifier and peered down her gold rimmed glasses at her. Ace tried not to squirm under such a focused stare. It was like being watched closely by a teacher when you first meet them and they're seizing you up, deciding whether they were going to like you or if they were going to make your year misery. Or like an ant being examined through a magnifying glass by a curious child. This Geek was radiating the same feeling, but instead of judging by appearance alone, it seemed like she was analysing and reassessing her.

'How did this girl see me?' Ace found herself thinking. A new girl who went and got herself bashed within minutes of her arrival? Someone who was stupid enough to make herself a prime enemy of Josey? If that was how she saw me before, what do I look like to her now?

After seemingly hours, Polly lowered her gaze, and her glasses. "You really are something, aren't you?"

That hadn't been on Ace's mental list of potential answers. "Huh?"

"Something tells me you're not the kind of person who can blend in."

The echo of the Professor's instruction did not escape unnoticed. "It's what I've been told,' Ace admitted.

Polly suddenly turned dark as though someone had just flicked off a light switch behind her eyes. "Would you care to explain why you gave that question to Kelly? You did put her in rather a tight spot."

The stare was back and interrogating again, but Ace met it and relied evenly, "Would you care to explain why you sounded so sure of yourself when you asked if I have been on probation?"

Unlike Kelly's features, Polly was easier to read. She had caught her off guard again. Ace's bluntness nearly always wore people down to a sharp point.

"I am not trying to be aggressive towards you," Ace told her, trying to clear something up. "I'm just edgy at the moment. Probably jumping at shadows, but it's been hardly a warm welcome. If I've done something to annoy or threaten you, I am sorry," she said, sincerely. "From what I see, you're a nice person, and I'd like to get to know you better than I currently do. But I can't do that if you and the rest of your gang keep avoiding me."

Something she said touched a nerve, and she started to worry she had taken the whole conversation the wrong way. Before she could find anything to say, Polly spoke up. "I'll see what I can do." Had this not sounded as honest as it was, it might have interpreted as mocking.

Grateful, Ace nodded and took this as a chance to depart on good terms. She was unaware of the odd look in the Geeks eyes that watched her go.

* * *

Josey was seething when the news reached her. Kelly was Head Girl? Not if Josey had anything to do about it. She already had plans on making her life full of problems. Create a diversion, make a problem, disappear, then let her deal with it. Simple really, but if enough little things were around to need Kelly's personal time, she would slowly tire and be easier to avoid and overpower.

That freak new girl also had to be dealt with. If she thought that because she'd beaten her earlier she was going to safe, she was in for a rough awakening. No one crossed Josey.

* * *

Ace was a catalyst, Polly concluded. It had taken her a long time to fully commit the concept to mind, and once it had, it wouldn't let go. She fitted the description of a 'catalyst' well too, which was where the idea had come from to begin with.

Catalysts are things that make other things change faster but are not affected by the changes. Ace was different, unique, and this gave her the ability to change things, because there was some kind of energy or presence about her that drew people's attention. Good and bad attention that brought out the best and worst in people, and often revealed characteristics and underlying secrets about people that had never been seen before. It was likely that this attention was one of the factors that contributed to Josey's beating up of Ace. If Ace was the fire that started the changes, then Josey was the water that tried to extinguish it. Ace's fire made Josey's dark side boil and rise to the surface.

Opposites do attract, and this explained why two opposing forces like Josey and Ace collided so violently. Combine fire and water and you get steam, and the pair were proving this all the time. They constantly eyed each other and neither were willing to give the other any ground or chance to make a move. Every time they were even remotely near each other, Josey would bait Ace, and Ace would snap back. The opposite was true also. Ace did start her fair share of arguments. She normally ended off worse however, but she was so determined and focused on not to giving up that she managed to spring back again for another round in a few minutes time. Like a ball, she would hit strong obstacles and bounce back again with more effort.

If things didn't happen by themselves the way she saw them, she would make them happen. She didn't wait for someone to fix the problem, she went and did it herself. She hadn't liked Josey picking on the twins, so she kept her away from them. This was achieved by becoming the target herself, but she didn't seem to mind. It did the opposite of its intention. Instead of trying to make Ace avoid confrontation with the bully, Ace purposely sought it out at every opportunity.

So Polly wasn't at all surprised to find these battles occurring a lot. Ace was unknowingly helping Kelly by keeping Josey distracted and busy, so she didn't have as much time to cause trouble as she would probably like, and Polly silently applauded her for it.

But there was something else about her that drew Polly's attention. The new girl's stories, the police records from the 1980's and the 'classified' nature of the criminal record number they'd found; they were all too similar to be a series of strange coincidences. A link had to exist. It simply required a bit more investigation using a different method, which was even less legal than their previous attempts.

Because whoever or whatever this U.N.I.T was, they knew how to make it difficult to access files even with a hacked administrator account.


	12. Uniforms, Beetroot, Headmistress' Office

**Author's Note: **Ace has been mentioned in cannon again for the first time since the classic series ended! Whooow!

For details see Sarah Jane Adventuresm, 'Death of the Doctor' .

**Chapter 11**

**Day 5; Uniforms, Beetroot and the Headmistress's Office**

'_This was the garb that 'normal' school girls wore. It was not St Trinian in any _

_way, which was what Ace wanted.'_

Kelly met Ace of the roof the next morning and had her describe the whole 'Upring' meeting in so much detail that Ace started finding it hard to remember everything. She was asked about the opinions expressed, who supported her, who had been excluded besides herself, who had looked suspicious, edgy or out of place, but Ace was hopeless with names. She couldn't remember which one of the Posh Totties was Chloe and which was Peaches, or which of the Emos had an orange streak through her hair, or which First Year had one plait instead of two. How was she supposed to remember everyone in three days?

In the end, Kelly gave up trying on Ace's descriptions. "I want you to go and find Andrea hairbrush and switch it with Jamie's."

"What? Why?" Ace asked.

Kelly gave her a 'Don't ask, just do' look so, sighing, Ace disappeared down the stairs to complete the task.

She found the Emos area in the dorm easy enough, but identifying the owner of the possessions was quite difficult. The Underdogs had abandoned her again to wage a battle with Mr Bailey, so she made an effort to remember the quickest route from the dorm to the science lab where she thought she'd been Andrea before. She found a position on the stairs where she could see into the classroom without being seen herself, and proceeded to watch the girls Andrea spoke to. She used nicknames to differentiate the group and committed herself to replacing them as soon as a real name was given.

Later on, Andrea and Jamie noticed that the other had 'stolen' their hairbrush and bickered for several minutes until being told to "Get over it," by Kelly. Oddly the instruction was obeyed. Previously, had Kelly done the same thing she would just have been snapped at. Now it was as though the thought was treason. No one crossed her anymore, openly at least. Respect for the girl had also risen, Ace noted. A side effect of Head Girl status perhaps?

It had to be more than that because the atmosphere changed whenever she entered a room. Not in a 'don't-say-anything-because-she'll-tell-on-us' way, not in a 'she's-Head-Girl-and-that-makes-her-bigger-and-better-than-us' way either.

Other schools' prefects and head students were seen as teacher's pets, snobs, snoops, power hungry dictators or up-themself peers. They were treated with more respect because of their position. The people labelled 'the link between the students and teachers' were supposed to set good examples for their school mates to follow. Normally this meant that the leaders would be models of the 'perfect' student image or just another reminder that the stereotypical cliques of the popular and the sporty reined supreme. Their position gave them power to dominate over everyone else. Whatever they said went.

Even at a lawless school some of the ideas rang true.

* * *

Every day at St Trinian's is fun. Fun. Oh so fun.

Fun, if you enjoy looking over your shoulder every thirty seconds to be certain that no devious traps were being set for you by the seemingly innocent girls in the younger grades.

Fun, if you find the idea of gravestones with your name engraved on them being made out of erasers amusing.

Fun, if you like being ganged up on and knocked about in the corridor by unrecognisable but clearly angry faces.

Fun, if you couldn't care less that notes about you and the odd way you dress are being passed around the room in every class.

Fun, if you don't mind really intelligent people looking at you like you were born in the Stone Ages because you named the current Prime Minister as someone from 20 years ago.

Just to clarify, in the 'Ace' dictionary the word 'fun' ranks 19 ranks down from 'wicked'. 'Fun' also sits 5 ranks up from 'Kill-me-now-I-can't-stand-this-any-more'.

If a translator ever becomes available for 'Ace' language, the meaning behind 'Every day at St Trinian's is fun' will be seen as 'Ahhh! Girls! Backstabbing, picking on new girls and verbal spits! I knew there was a reason why I hated schools!"

Luckily for Ace more 'fun' was heading her way, and not just from her peers either.

She went to Maths only for Josey to sit behind her and fire spit balls of paper and chewing gum in her direction. She thought watching the twins play poker in Religious Studies would be harmless then abruptly reconsidered after having a pole cue shoved into her gut. She couldn't even work on her Nitro timer in Science without keeping a constant eye on the other girls bubbling concoction of deadly acids in case they 'accidentally' spilt it while transporting it from one bench to another.

English had to be safer, right? But even Mr Baily was on edge which had to be quite natural when you know that you're facing certain doom. However the lesson was not as entertaining as the previous one. Or, to be more precise, the small part Ace saw of it didn't look great.

She was secretly surprised when she got pulled up for wearing the 'incorrect uniform'. Had he failed to notice what the other girls were wearing? Uniform yes, worn appropriately no. Regardless, her shirt and jeans hardly mad her fit in, but she cared little about that. Everyone was out to get her anyway.

Turning her back her classmates, Ace headed outside as directed and caught her reflection in the glass of the door. For a brief moment, she considered that maybe, just maybe, Mr Baily had a reasonable expectation for her to go and find new clothes. Her jeans were filthy with spots of grease and odd holes around the knees, her shirt grotty, grass stained and a large stain right down the middle from breakfast that was only just visible beneath her large black jacket. The jacket and her shoes were the best of compared to everything else, but even they could use a clean. True, Ace hadn't expected to have to wear the same clothes over and over again due to the distinct lack of laundry facilities. (She did shower, only very late at night though) Yet all but the First Year's clothes were always clean and ironed. How did they do it? Was there a secret washing machine around somewhere she hadn't found yet?

Still, unless it was about to pop up out of nowhere, she needed something else to wear. Some First Years gave her a shove in the right direction and she located a rather large cupboard with pile after pile of clothing. Discarded clothing by the look of it, but it was clean, so Ace didn't particularly care. She became more picky about what she would try on though. Nothing with frills, nothing bright, nothing long, nothing that looked way too old or young, and most definitely nothing that was too short that couldn't possibly cover any leg at all.

Then, inspired by an idea, she collected specific items and, with the pile in hand, Ace went into the bathroom. After checking for any hidden traps and the like, she turned her back. Something reflective caught her eye. Really, a video cam in the toilets. Didn't they have any decency? Without a second thought, she 'somehow managed' to fling her jacket over the lens, and by the time someone came to investigate the sudden loss of picture, Ace had reclaimed it and left the room.

A few stole curious glances at her as she passed through the corridor after dumping her own clothes in a safe location. They wouldn't have looked twice at her except they recognised the black badge covered jacket she carried, which was the only thing that enabled them to identify her. So used to seeing her wearing the same thing, they were surprised to realise it was Ace who passed them, not another new girl as they had briefly thought. Later they criticised themselves for not associating Ace as a new girl, because that was exactly what she was. She was as 'new girl' as a new girl could humanely be. Ordinary white blouse, ordinary skirt with it original unaltered length, plain black and white striped tie that sat in its oddly usual position around her neck. Her shoes also fit the 'new girl' stereotype by being black, laced and outrageously 'normal' looking.

This was the garb that 'normal' school girls wore. It was not St Trinian in any way, which was what Ace wanted. Uniforms are designed to make you conform, blend in with the crowd. They are not meant to be used as a statement, but that was Ace's intention. No one here ever wore it like this, so she did.

* * *

Upon re-entering the English classroom, she didn't even look at Mr Baily. He hadn't even noticed, but the others had. Eyed by the class, she sat herself down at her table and started arranging the objects neatly on her desk. When the teacher turned, he blinked several times before believing the sight of a very tame, compliant Ace, who sat in perfect posture; arms crossed neatly across her chest and her back straight. He held her full attention, and this made him wither up inside. It had to be a trick. This could not be the same girl who had been lounging on her chair with both feet on her desk who'd sat there twenty minutes ago.

Smiling as he took her new appearance in she politely asked, "Will this do, sir?"

"I..." he started, but lost his words.

Continuing with her staged act, Ace leaned forward, holding her head in the palm of her left hand. "I wasn't sure, you see, if this was the right thing. I mean, is this right?" She gestured at her chest with the other hand, lingering in the centre just long enough to seize her peers' attention.

The teacher had yet to recover.

"But, can you tell me," Ace carried on, "I mean, probably a stupid question, but..."

She pulled out something very, very frilly that made Mr Baily go red and flustered. Andrea, Taylor and Polly sniggered before exploding into giggles. However, it took a moment before it clicked in Chelsea's head, and that few seconds made all the difference when she laughed loudly long after everyone had finished.

"Put it away," he pleaded, rather feebly.

"What do you think, sir?" Ace pressed. "Is this part of the uniform? She raised the frilly shirt, looked at it then at him. "Yeah, thought so. Although... wouldn't it go nicely with your suit?"

The girls roared with laughter as the English teacher's face turned purple in anger at his public humiliation.

* * *

Miss Fritton chuckled behind her hand when Mr Baily explained the situation to her. She had already seen it, as had the rest of the school, for it had been broadcast onto every screen. Ah, this girl was good, she thought. It must be said that Miss Fritton's opinion of 'good' did not match Mr Baily's 'good'. For 'good' did not mean 'nice, obedient, and a pleasure to teach'. It meant anything but.

Miss Fritton knew how to pick them, and decided to go pick up her winnings from the staffroom as soon as possible. Already, she had claimed 35 pounds on Ace alone, although it won't last much longer when word spreads about the character of the new girl. They'd stop placing bets against her, and Miss Fritton's quick and easy money collecting spree would be over.

Pity. Still, she's still in the running for 20 pounds if the twins hurry up and get their act together.

Across the room Ace sat the couch and couldn't help but grin as the infuriated teacher carefully outlined the event. The mischievous smile was able to vanish incredibly quickly whenever Mr Baily looked her way. It was like piggy-in-the-middle as Ace and the headmistress kept taking turns to snigger behind his back.

"-And I am telling you, Miss Fritton, that this girl's behaviour was appalling!" the English teacher concluded his monologue that his audience had ignored for the last five minutes.

"Was it now?" Miss Fritton asked, not expecting a reply. She then glanced over at Ace. "And what do you have to save for yourself, girlie?"

This startled Ace as she didn't think her opinion would be asked for. There was a glint in the headmistress's eyes, so, unlike last time she'd met the crazy lady, she did not hold her tongue. "He was a beautiful shade of purple, Miss. Beetroot with lots of red and blue food dye."

Mr Baily slammed a pile of papers onto the desk, while Miss Fritton chortled quietly "How dare you!"

"Well, it was quite easy, actually," Ace commented, choosing to ignore the look of outrage that engulfed the man's face. "You said, "You're not wearing proper school uniform," so I went and found it. You can't blame me for wearing it. I was just doing as you said."

"But this?" He lifted the frilly undergarment from the table with a very long pen.

"That was among the pile of uniforms. How was I to know it wasn't a part of it?" Ace defended. The second she had seen it, she knew what to do. It had been too good not to involve it somehow, and she was so glad that she had brought it. It was simply hilarious, particularly as his skin changed colour whenever it was within his sight. She purposely hesitated for a moment. "Actually, how, sir, do you know that it's not?"

Mr Baily's eyes widened in horror at the suggestion. Miss Fritton was in stitches just out of his sight, and was unable control her snorts of laughter, which she tried to mask as a sudden coughing fit, but it was unsuccessful.

"Haven't been checking have you?" Ace asked wearing a serious expression.

Oh, now she'd gone and done it, she thought while steam fumed out of his ears and nostrils. He was a Nitro can with a faulty timer; the only way you knew it was gonna blow was when it already had. "How dare you talk in such a manner to a teacher, Miss..."

"McKenzie," Ace swiftly regurgitated the fake name the Professor had written on her forms. Her eyes suddenly bulged. "Oh, sorry. Beg your pardon." She addressed the bemused Miss Fritton, granting her the apology.

Her teacher was not pleased by this and was oblivious to the sense of humour that the two shared. "You," he lifted his finger and pointed directly at her, "are a disrespectful, arrogant, rebellious and -"

This might have made any normal school girl flinch or break eye contact with such a proclamation. Problem was it was Ace he was scolding, and although he didn't know it, she had been through this and so much worse before that it didn't bother her in the slightest.

"Thanks very much. I do try my best."

"-disruptive child whose behaviour-"

"I'm sixteen, so that would technically make me a teenager."

"- is appalling and I am formally requesting your expulsion."

Really? Ace wondered silently. You and what army? You can't expel me. You're just a teacher, a new teacher at that. The only person who can expel anyone is the headmistress. Mr Baily was powerless as well as delusional to think that he had say over the matter.

"Court, judge and jury aren't you? Don't I get a lawyer? Or a hearing, or at least be allowed to state my defence?"

"Permission granted," Miss Fritton declared.

"Miss Fritton!" he cried, shocked.

"Sustained," was the swift one word answer that shut him up.

She was enjoying this, Ace realised. Even willing to play along, so she would too. "Well, Your Honour, I was told by Mr Baily here that what I was wearing was "Incorrect uniform" and instructed that I was not permitted to return to the room until I was wearing the uniform."

In true judge style, she addressed Mr Baily, "Is this correct?"

"Yes, but-"

"Yes, Your Honour," Ace prompted him, then resumed her case. "When I came back wearing this, he gave me neither approval or disapproval. But whilst looking for a spare uniform, I found that." She pointed at the offending article of clothing, "I had no idea if it was part of the uniform or not. So I asked him, and then he started yelling at me, Your Honour."

Miss Fritton eyed both of them with two gleaming brown globes before bestowing her judgement. "Mr Baily, you will return to your class that you have abandoned to the guidance of the students sense. If you're lucky the room may still be standing. You will trouble Ace no more and you shall deliver her no punishment. Court dismissed." She used a half empty mug to slam down and announce the end of the proceedings, the contents of the mug slopping slowly onto her table.

He was bewildered to say the least, however, unable to question her authority or override her decision, he left, muttering under his breath. Ace went to follow until she was called back.

"Just a moment, girlie."

Unafraid of her tough exterior, Ace went right up to the table and remained standing to show her respect. This was one fun Headmistress, very different in contrast to the old fun-hating geezers she'd had previously.

"Yes Miss?"

"Have you been practising your descriptions?"

That was she'd said when they first met, Ace remembered. "Oh, yes Miss."

"Evidently." She went on to add, "You matched his expression perfectly."

She had seen it? The idea wasn't as surprising as it should have been, because Ace could see this crazy lady as an even crazier younger lady. "Thanks, Miss."

Miss Fritton smiled slightly. "You don't have to keep saying "Miss" after every sentence, you know."

"Oh good," Ace sighed, relieved. "I don't think I could have kept it up for much longer."


	13. In Search of the Elusive Laundry

**Chapter 12**

**Day 6; In Search of the Elusive Laundry**

'_Someone should really come up with a list of all the qualities that make a person a target, Ace later thought.'_

Being naughty is far more tempting than being good. Good people are boring. In a movie, you don't really care about the normal people, because they always do the same things. They're predictable. Pretending to be the hero was for little kids. For big kids little was more appealing than being the villain.

Evil characters are much more fun to play. Nothing was beyond you. You weren't bound by morals or laws. The idea appealed to the dark voices in the back of the mind. The ones that say, 'Go on. Do it. I dare you.' Giving in made you feel powerful because no one had any control over what you did or said.

Being evil was also a tad more difficult. The satisfaction of accomplishing a deed was yours, but you had to come up with the plans. You got chased, and you enjoyed it because it was a game you played, and you are very good at. People tried to find you. Basic hide and seek really. A kids way to pass time, but it was still fun. But, hello people? Do you really want to grow up and become another zombie adult who does as their told and never pushes the boundaries because bending or breaking the law was wrong?

Rule abiding citizens might argue that it was lack of creativity, entertainment and serious counselling that turned the most ordinary people to crime. But, really, isn't crime just another way of challenging the way society is organised and expressing opinion? How is jailing people for announcing their right to free speech legal? Ignoring that, if people are happy, not bored and had everything they wanted, they wouldn't have to break the rules now would they?

Hmm, that was deep. You've gone and turned into a Geek overnight Ace, she thought to herself. Regardless, she wrote that down on a piece of paper and folded it away into her pocket. As she did so her gaze wandered to the floor and spotted a trip wire only half a step away. Shrugging, she stepped over it.

Unfortunately the wire was a distraction so that the slippery surface past it would snare its victim. Finally skidding into a wall at the bottom of the stairs, a low moan escaped her. Two flights of hard wooden steps do wonders to a backside and bubble bath had made her skirt terribly sticky.

On the plus side, she could blow bubbles in the shower. Oh, yeah, great. Bubbles are so cool that she'll completely not notice the throbbing pain of her rear. Pfft! Like hell it would!

She had been plotting her revenge (involving maple syrup or jam) when she was caught out again. This time by hand soap. Hand soap that resembled and felt a lot like mashed up tomatoes. Was there anything that wasn't out to get her?

Oh, no. There was more. If there was anything with the slightest chance of going wrong or being flung her way it did. Her pen exploded in her hand and the ink stained not only her shirt and hands but the desk, stink peas had been squished into her books, gum stuck to her fingers after touching a doorhandle, a sturdy cabinet suddenly tipped over and landed on her toes, even falling over her own feet. Admittedly her shoelaces had been tied together, but it did little to help her dignity.

It had to be Josey because she was there every time and was the first to laugh. It took nearly everything Ace had not to retaliate. She had to blend in. So what if this school was a boarding school? She had no desire to disappoint the Professor. As much as she didn't want to be here at all, she wanted to prove that she could last in a school. It was about showing him she had control over herself, regardless of what he sometimes thought and what her instincts were screaming at her to do.

It was proving to be quite challenging.

* * *

Why? Why was being a dull normal 'good' girl so hard? Everywhere she looked she saw trouble waiting to happen. Sport was a perfect example. It wasn't a regular session or set place on the timetable (There wasn't even a timetable for each year group. This meant that any girl could go to any class at any time. Sounds chaotic, doesn't it? Just to confirm that, yes, it is!). Notification of sport time was carried from mouth to mouth and usually went along the lines of, "Oi! You! Yes you! Hockey pitch, one hour!"

Regular attendants included all the First Years, most Emos and several Chavs and a grand total of zero Posh Totties. Being good at sport put you up a rung in respect. It also gave you the right to carry arms. An odd thing to say but it was true. Nothing more painful than a hockey stick being jabbed at you, (It also leaves very colourful bruises, take it from Ace) which is reason 1 of the many that she should give up on being 'normal' so she could go and get them back for it. Reason 2 was that she needed to have some way of defending herself from the others without being charged with murder (Nitro was good for buildings and stuff, but it just wasn't quite suitable for crazy teenage girls).

Anyone who isn't already afraid of teenage girls should be. Most of the girls were already dangerous but the sight of crazy 13 year olds charging at you with sporting equipment being wielded like an army of barbarians would terrify the bravest person alive.

Games like football weren't very popular because no weapons of destruction were required to play. Ace quickly learnt not to play lacrosse, (Not that she actually knew how to play) hockey (Violent. Very violent, and lots of injuries and custom made equipment) or archery (No explanation required). Miss Cleaver, head of sport, had a pair of eyes that seemed to see everything. If you had any sporting talent at all, she picked you up on it and dragged you along to training to prove she was right.

Which sums up how Ace found herself blocking the path of several baseballs with a bat.

"Remember to keep your eyes off the ball," the twins had told her while placing the bat in her hand.

Off the ball? How was that advice? What else was she supposed to be looking at? The meaning behind the message quickly became known as the projectiles were lobbed at eye level and, due to "equipment shortages", there was no helmet to protect her from a nasty headache or a KO.

"Lots of power," Miss Cleaver announced to the gathering crowd. "Consistent," she added as Ace managed to send half a dozen balls towards the hill where Josey and Co had been watching and laughing. Shortly after being notified that they were within range, they took refuge elsewhere. (What? It was an accident! She hadn't meant to… Oh, to hell with it; of course it was on purpose!)

"Yes, you were right. She does swing a bit funny."

Ace turned to see that the teacher was in a conversation to the twins. "I do not swing funny," she responded.

No one said a word as yet another ball flew towards her, but their intake of breath was warning enough. She spotted it in the corner of her eye and, with amazing speed, hit the ball into next week. It soared across the sky at a 45 degree angle and gasps from the audience accompanied its flight.

"That'll do," Miss Cleaver announced, blowing the whistle.

At that moment, the ball returned to Earth with the painful high pitched whine of a car under assault.

"Five quid it's Mr Baily's!" Andrea yelled.

"Ten, it's not," answered another girl.

"20, it's smashed the front windscreen," the twins piped in.

Three minutes, a broken window of a brand new silver sports car, a message inscribed on ball and 10 pounds each in the twins' pockets later, the group scattered to hide as the owner of the car arrived. The ink was still wet when he picked it up and squeezed the life out of it as though wishing to strangle the bats-woman.

For the next hour, everyone grinned at the sight of the word 'ACE' imprinted in red and black on the inside of his palm; the little nymphs can forge signatures and handwriting and that had become reason 3.

* * *

Ace was bored sitting at a desk regretting her decision to show up to another lesson after the lack of success she'd had in other subjects. Things relying purely on theory were not her thing. She would have avoided them altogether except she rather enjoyed causing Mr Baily grief. But language was different. According to the twins the language teacher spoke twelve languages and could write in half of them. Ace had nodded, impressed, then the twins told her that the majority of the Geeks spoke nearly ever dialect in Europe as well as Chinese, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian and Arabic.

Even so, twelve was a lot compared to the meagre number of one that Ace understood.

The teacher gave a few Geeks pronunciation tips (young Geeks, because the others could make their own accents completely disappear even when switching between Spanish and Swedish) then noticed her. "You must be Ace." The tone said, 'the new girl'.

"Yep." That would be her.

"Do you speak any languages?" she asked.

"Not really." As in none but English.

"French?"

"Eh, no."

"Spanish?"

"No."

"Italian?"

"No."

"What do you speak?"

English, and... hang on. Wait for it... No. Nothing else. "Just English."

Clearly put off by her lack of talent, she left Ace alone. The First Years were supposed to be playing a French version of Scrabble, but instead, they were plotting something. Polly and the other Geeks were being normal as they typed on their computers with a website with a big logo that read 'CIA'. The teacher walked past them a few times and didn't say anything, so it was nothing new.

"What's happening?" Ace asked the muttering group of First Years.

They hurriedly collected the papers on the desks and removed them from her sight. The twins looked at her apologetically. She wasn't wanted. All right. Fine.

Reason 4: always left out of anything interesting. She longed to know what they were planning, not just because it was more interesting that doing nothing, but because of Reason 5; identical to 4 except that you are usually the one having interesting things done to you.

She found a blank piece of paper and a pencil, and started drawing. She was no artist, but it was just a sketch. It was also a good cover, because after a few moments, the First Years started talking. No one noticed her anymore, or paid her any attention, so Ace heard every snippet of detail about the plans to raid the Chav's stuff and change one girl's conditioner so it would make her hair incredibly frizzy (Who was one of Josey's lot, so Ace didn't mind one bit).

She also heard Polly telling her computer about a deal of some kind in Berlin. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. No, she'd seen right. The Geek was talking to her computer. Ace gaped when it answered the Geek's questions. No way! Talking computers! Computers could talk!

Predictably, Taylor and Andrea were hurling insults at each other, and unfortunately Ace's attention kept being drawn to the Posh Totties grouped in the corner around Chloe who was making sweet talk with someone over the phone (Not something Ace particularly wanted to hear).

It was about this time that she noticed that she could hear Josey talking to her three friends in the corner. "Look at her. Completely oblivious to everything everyone's saying."

Another girl piped in, "She only speaks English. I mean, she can't understand a single word in French!"

It didn't take a genius to pick up that they were talking about her, and that wasn't actually true. She knew 'bonjour,' and 'baguette'.

"As far as she knows, we're talking about Paris and the Eiffel Tower, instead of her," the girl laughed.

Was this girl stupid or something? Of course Ace could understand her. She was talking English and was only 2 meters away. You'd have to be deaf not to hear.

"So what's the plan?" asked another girl.

"Now is the time," Josey told them, unaware that Ace had paused her sketching to listen intensely. "Kelly's not here."

"Isn't she?"

"No. No one's seen her all day. She's not on the grounds.

She was right. Kelly hadn't even been at breakfast, and Ace had been looking for her to determine the whereabouts of the laundry that had continued to elude her.

"So we break in."

The other girls stared at her as though she was mad. "The Head Girl's room?"

Ace had never heard of it, but the name implied that it belonged to the Head Girl, and that explained why half of Kelly's stuff had disappeared over the last few days. She was moving in. Now it sounded like it was going to be invaded. Kelly should be warned.

"But that's..."

"Impossible," finished the other girl. "You can't even walk up to the door without being noticed."

"And even if you could get there without anyone seeing, how would you get inside?"

Josey shrugged. "Decent lockpick."

The girls gaped. "For four different locks and a bolt?"

Tight security for a room in a boarding school, Ace thought.

"We don't need to worry about that. We'll just break it open."

"Through 15 inches of steel?

How much? Gee, it was a fortress! Maybe Ace didn't need to intervene. The door looked pretty safe without her help.

Josey bit her lip. It might just have occurred to her how impossible her plan was. "Something else then. How about the New Girl again?"

"It's Ace actually."

Every head in the room turned to look at her.

Someone should really come up with a list of all the qualities that make a person a target, Ace later thought. This is what she came up with:

Different (Check)

No/few/weak friends or usually alone (Check)

Easy to annoy or make angry (Ace had never been known for her cool)

Outsider (AKA 'New Girl'. Check)

Keeps problems to themself (Check)

Secretive (Hmm... Let's think about this. Does travelling 20 years in the future and knowing that aliens exist and one of them is her friend count?)

Behaves oddly (Well, she does carry an explosive in her bag everywhere...)

Draws attention to themselves (Double check)

Notice how she meets every single one?

"What was that?" one of Josey's crew asked her.

"I said, 'It's Ace actually'," Ace answered. Why was everyone looking at her funny? Unintentional attention again, but she had no idea what she'd done.

Unknown to Ace, every other person in the room did not hear, 'It's Ace actually'. They heard, "_C'est Ace en fait,_"which was shortly followed by, "_J'ai dit, c'est Ace en fait."_

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did she just speak in French?" a Geek whispered to Polly who was peering at Ace. Polly nodded.

French? What were they talking about?

"_Nein spreche ich Französisch nicht,_"Ace corrected them.(No, I'm not speaking French.)

They looked startled. "German too?"

"I don't speak French or German," Ace told them slowly.

"Um, yes you do,"

"_Non, je ne fais pas_." (No, I don't.)

"You're talking French now," Polly said.

"I think I know what language I'm speaking, and I'm 100 per cent sure it's English," Ace responded, getting annoyed at everyone accusations.

The room glared at her. When the bell rang a few seconds later, Ace was the first to leave.

* * *

She escaped to the roof hoping to find the Head Girl there, but she had yet to reappear. Instead, Polly was the one to find her.

"I honestly can't speak French," Ace found herself telling her. "I don't know why everyone keeps thinking I'm lying. I failed French years ago."

"What about German?" Polly asked.

The Geek couldn't be serious. If she couldn't pass a test in a language most similar to English, how was she supposed to know German? "Never learnt it."

"You spoke it perfectly. Say something in German."

"I can't. I don't know any German." At Polly's look she continued, "It's not like it matters anyway. It's not much for a language class. Everyone still speaks English. Even you."

Polly raised an eyebrow, slightly confused.

"Well, you were talking to your computer about a business deal in Berlin," Ace elaborated.

She was very surprised, although not by the odd remark about computers that spoke. "You understand Polish?"

This was a lost cause. "I only speak English! I don't understand French, or German, or Finish, or Italian or sign language or even blinking smoke signals!" After she inhaled more oxygen, she corrected herself. "Okay, maybe that one about smoke signals isn't quite true."

Polly pulled out her laptop. "Tell me what it says."

"What?" Ace looked around to see what the Geek was looking at. There was a cloud of smoke in the distance. "Oh, that? That says 'Winter's coming.' Easy really. It's cold so they put wood on the fire. Anybody can tell you that."

"Not the smoke, Ace. This." Then a voice came through the speakers. "Go on," Polly encouraged.

Ace sighed, then reluctantly recited the voice, "'In March, I will go to the museum'."

Polly pressed a few keys and a different voice and sentence was heard.

"'My dog is very large and has lots of fleas.'"

Polly straightened her glasses. "That was in Mandarin and Vietnamese."

"What?" Ace looked at the screen. Two sentences were highlighted on the page, each was written twice. "But the original is the same as the translation. They're both in English."

The Geek stared at her, not believing a word.

After several minutes of testing, Polly gave up. "You know even more languages than I do!" she exclaimed.

Ace received a look of awe, although she knew she didn't deserve it.

"I think I can just understand them. I can't start up a conversation in another language, but if someone is speaking it I can understand what they say and talk to them."

"How?" asked Polly, unable to believe it.

"I don't know."

But she had an idea. It might have something to do with a blue box that was larger on the inside and its alien occupant, not that she could tell her that. A long shot maybe, but honestly though what else could it be?

* * *

Where was the laundry? Where was it? Calm down Ace, she reasoned with herself. There has to be a laundry. How else does everyone have clean clothes every day? The trick was finding it, and, boy, did Ace want to find it. Unfortunately, it just didn't want to be found.

A soaked Ace; the result of a prank Josey had just staged (Think massive bucket of water being tipped over your head then add glitter. Lots and lots of glitter); attempted to stop a trail of water from landing on the floor behind her, but gave up. She didn't mind being wet. She didn't mind being cold either. Wet and cold was something completely different. Wet, cold and covered in multicoloured sparkles really takes the cake for the most irritating combination for making someone feel itchy and twitchy.

She peered into every room she passed; classroom, classroom, bathroom, common room, teacher's common room, the kitchen; but had no success. The occasional cupboard was searched as well, until Ace struck gold. Instead of a cabinet like it appeared, she had found a laundry chute. Score! She lifted the top and looked down. Making a map of the school in her head, she reasoned that the chute lead to somewhere in the basement. The darkness she saw at the bottom of the chute supported this.

The spare clothes store cupboard was on the way so she picked up two shirts and a skirt at random, then continued down the stairs to the ground floor. One door she opened was a cupboard, which left only one door left on the ground floor that she hadn't opened. This particular door had defied Ace's laundry search for a good reason. It appeared identical to the storeroom door however it had a big red cross painted on it. Odd as it was, the paint wasn't the real reason Ace had neglected it, for a sign had been nailed to the door and it wasn't reassuring.

'Radiation. Enter at own risk'.

A joke, surely? Someone's idea of fun, right? Radioactive stuff is extremely unlikely to be found in a public place like a boarding school. Except, Ace realised grimly, if any school, anywhere, was to have toxic substances stored in the basement, it would be here. When that was put into consideration, it was actually quite possible.

Ace gulped, involuntary. Being wet and cold suddenly seemed a tiny insignificant problem. Even so, she'll have to call their bluff, and hope it is a bluff. Oh, for the need of clean clothes, Ace thought. It was incredibly hard to ignore the radiation symbol that had been chiselled out of the door in the centre when it dug into the palm of her hand.

The door opened to reveal a fairly large room. No mini nuclear reactor, no green substances and nothing glowed in the dark. Phew! It had been a joke. Thankfully the washing machine in the corner was not a joke.

Ace quickly shut the door behind her. Leaning against it to stop anyone from surprising her, Ace quickly changed into the clothes she'd snagged then dumped her own stuff into the machine. After adding the powder and closing the lid, she finally noticed the numerous buttons that operated it. She located one or two that looked faintly familiar and pressed them. To her delight the machine started working.

While she was waiting for it to finish, she used the extremely large sink nearby to get some of the glitter out of her hair. The door behind her opened and Ace shot upright banging her head against the cabinet that hung on the wall.

It was Andrea. "What happened to you?" the Emo sneered.

Ace resumed her glitter removal. "Josey, bucket, water, glitter," she said simply.

Andrea didn't seem surprised. "Could have been worse. Could have been superglue in the bucket too."

Ohh, that would be really nasty.

"Can you do me a favour?" the Emo asked.

"Uh... Yeah?" Ace asked, wondering what she might be signing up for.

"Leave the glitter in the sink."

"Okay..."

"Don't worry." Andrea smiled an evil looking grin. "You're gonna love it."

* * *

In the dorm an hour later wearing clean freshly washed and dried clothes, Ace observed the massive coating of glitter that covered the surface of every single thing Josey and Co owned. Andrea was good, she thought. She did enjoy seeing their faces when everything from their toothpaste to their pillows had been overwhelmed by slightly wet colourful flecks, but was quick to re-evaluate the situation when they picked her out as the culprit. Maybe Andrea wasn't as nice as she had thought. Maybe she just wanted to get away with a prank and not be the one who got caught. That theory gained more belief as they hounded her in and out of classrooms.


	14. Smoke and Mud

**Chapter 13**

**Day 7; Smoke and Mud**

'_Didn't they learn about parabolas and that kind of stuff in maths anymore?'_

Everyone sleeps in on Sundays, and Sundays are 'mufti days' so everyone wears whatever they like, making it also laundry day for everyone who hadn't been bothered to do any during the week. Contrary to the first fact, Kelly was extremely tired. It was hidden well; the bags under her eyes expertly covered up by high quality make-up and the determined expression that was one of her dominant features. Her exhaustion was to be expected as Ace knew for a fact that Kelly had not slept in the dorm that night. Rather, she had snuck into the dorm around 4:30 in the morning after being who knows where all day, and didn't wake a single person when she passed them. Ace had not been woken; she had been awake the whole time. Everyone had been so quiet and calm that it had nerved her. They always seemed to be plotting something, so having nothing happen did not ease her worries.

The hours she'd spent watching and waiting in the dark started taking their toll as the day went on. Nitro timer improving had been on the agenda for there were no classes on Sundays (Ace had then decided that Sundays were the best day of the week), until she noticed a plain slightly faded post-it note had been slipped into her jacket pocket when she was in the corridor. She had turned her head and had just sighted Kelly passing through a doorway in the opposite direction.

The note's instruction was simple, but vague. _"Make Alex's books disappear."_

Hoping there was a reason for all these missions, Ace monitored the Geeks while they studied in the language classroom (Studying on a Sunday! They were completely mad! Was the stock market important enough to spend four hours of a precious Sunday watching?).

After patiently waiting for just over four hours, the group left. Having noted where the girl called Alex had left her stuff, Ace found an open side window and slid inside. Alex's books in tow, she couldn't decide where a good hiding place for them would be. Then it hit her and she stashed them there (the most elusive place in the school), and then slipped into the corridor as though nothing had happened.

There was something odd about the way the twins eyes opened wider than normal when they saw her coming their way, and how they jumped when Ace greeted, "Hey." Either they had recently been the subject of a prank just as she had, or the duo was up to something. The later was more likely.

Ace casually asked, "What have you two been doing?"

Looking up with wide innocent eyes, they replied, "Nothing."

The two little cherub angels with invisible halos might have fooled her once, but Ace knew better than to believe that they had been doing 'nothing' when tiny containers of unknown content had been concealed in their soaks and the insides of their buttoned jackets and faintly smelt of smoke and chemicals.

"It doesn't smell like nothing. Just like sodium nitrate, if I'm right. Now, if you've been using sodium nitrate you've got-"

Ace snatched a canister from an unsuspecting twin and opened it. Something was squished inside. She gave it a cautious sniff.

"Smoke bomb?" Not quite what she had been expecting. "You made this?" Ace asked.

The grins on the little devils' in training's faces said it all.

Be good, Ace reminded herself. You have to be good. Prove that you can. Fight the urge. You can do it. Be good. Be good. Be...

She lost the battle. "Show me."

Leading her by the arm through the chemistry lab where a small frying pan with white and yellow bits was soaking in a sink, they took her to the storeroom and picked up a container of sugar and a jar labelled 'KNO3'. Both prime ingredients of smoke bombs, but what was the sodium nitrate for?

One of the twins vanished and reappeared wearing safety glasses, carrying something small covered in foil. She pealed the foil off and then lit the exposed pasty substance with a match. It caught alight and gave off yellow flames and lots of tinted smoke. Sodium makes it yellow, Ace remembered.

"Nice." This pleased the pair. "What where you planning to do with that?"

They whispered their idea in her ear. Her own smirk grew.

"Great, but I think I know how you could make it even better. Only if you let me help," she added seeing their glee and excitement. "Deal?"

"Deal," they replied.

* * *

**Scientific Report**

By Ace, Tara and Tania (AKA the Twins)

**Aim:** Evict Mr Baily (English teacher) from St Trinian's.

**Hypothesis:** When confronted by something that absolutely terrifies to death him, he will run and not come back.

**Equipment:** Coloured smoke bombs, helium canisters with nozzles, giant blow up balloons, fishing wire, frilly garments (Often found in Posh Totty wardrobe), Sellotape, safety pins, rope, a very long hose, dirt, large deep hole (Dug with the help of several First Years), and one Mr Baily (Referred to as 'Target'.

**Method:** Secret.

**Results:** The Target opened the door to his room and found himself covered in very frilly undergarments. He quickly tried to entangle himself then bolted down the corridor again when several gigantic helium-filled balloons propelled along hidden fishing wire rapidly approached him.

Concealed smoke bombs ignited and obscured his vision, causing the Target to trip over a rope tied at ankle height through a door at end of the hallway. This was meant to cause him to trip and fly forward and land in a specially created puddle of thick mud just outside. Onlooking crowd watched from balconies and windows and 'Ohhh'ed as target soared like a pigeon and then dive-bombed. A mildly satisfying splat was heard; not belonging to the Target's landing in the mud pit.

**Evaluation: **Successful, but in future, more planning and careful predictions of flight path are required.

**Conclusion:** Target overshot the pit and will not be returning in the foreseeable future.

* * *

Ace's eyes widened as she watched Mr Baily fly several meters past the mud pit. She winced when he hit the ground and turned to look at the trouble-making pair.

"Opps…" they breathed.

Ace shook her head in disbelief. Fancy predicting the path of projection wrong. Didn't they learn about parabolas and that kind of stuff in maths anymore? Good thing they had called the ambulance in advance. They needed it now.

Still, it was worth it.

* * *

After waving goodbye to the ambulance as it left in rather a hurry, Ace hurried back along the driveway and eventually returned to the roof where Kelly had been waiting. She didn't even have time to open her mouth before Kelly issued another command.

"Find Celia's hockey stick and bring it here without her knowing."

By this time, Ace knew most of the girls by face, and some by name. Celia was the girl with extremely wild hair, she recalled. She didn't seem to belong to any group in particular, and was, frankly, odd. Off in her own little world a lot. She was the strange girl who sat down and read books in the middle of a hockey game. Her hockey stick scarcely ever hit anything other than the ground when she dropped it. This made it easy to tell it apart from the numerous other hockey sticks that lay everywhere but in a sports storeroom and snag it when no one was around.

Celia also had a hammock for a bed, which Ace found "Wicked" and quickly set her mind to making one of her own. She started scavenging material and rope; however the rope she discovered wasn't quite strong enough and required plaiting in order to hold Ace's body weight. It was an understatement to say that plaiting wasn't one of Ace's talents. You could even say she found it a challenge to plaiting her own hair without laying on the fact too thick.

Her efforts, or, to put it more accurately, her attempts, entertained the girls who slept around her especially when Ace got annoyed at the rope because it kept coming undone and she started yelling at it. "Gordon Bennet! There it goes again!" was often followed by long meaningless muttering about hating this and that. The others didn't quite understand what she was saying, but her frustration was amusing.

She didn't make much progress on the hammock until Celia came down to earth long enough to see what Ace was trying to do. She was even in a good mood and showed her how to do it properly. To Ace's delight it was completed by that afternoon.

Kelly had another task for her when she returned. "Go to the kitchen and arrange Chloe to get Taylor's dinner."

Everyone has little voices in their head, mainly telling them when they're hurting or hungry. Ace had them too, but she had another one that said 'Oh! Look at that! Investigate, investigate!' That was exactly what it was saying now. She heard this voice a lot, particularly when she sees signs that say 'Do Not Enter', or 'Restricted Access'. The only exception she'd encountered here so far was the Head Girl room as it belonged to Kelly, she didn't want to annoy Kelly, and, judging by the first time she'd encountered it, a high voltage current ran through it. She was in no hurry to encounter that again.

She had a feeling she knew the reason behind all these little missions. Kelly didn't want her to be somewhere. She wanted her out of the way. Ace needed to know why. Why she wasn't wanted, and what was going on that they didn't want her to know about? Kelly was using the tasks to conceal it, but they weren't working. In fact, they just drew her attention even more.

Instead of rushing off to be a good obedient new girl, Ace started collecting ideas about where it could be. It wasn't anywhere she'd been sent to. That knocked out the possibility of the dorm and the kitchen.

Figuring the best way to know where she wasn't wanted was to follow Kelly, Ace made her way outside and walked around the building. There were a few shrubs, plants and the occasional tree around, and Ace started assessing her choice of access. One of the trees had a few branches close enough to the second storey to be used to access a window. Checking to see if anyone around was watching her, she reached up and heaved herself stiffly up into the tree. Surprisingly, it was not as painful as she thought it would be, and with that bit of encouragement she continued climbing.

She found the branch that had caught her eye and to her dismay, there were no handholds to get to it from beneath. Going around the other side of the trunk and clambering up and around until positioned directly above it, Ace sat and gently lowered herself down. It swayed and groaned slightly as it took her weight. She hesitated for a second wondering if it would snap, but it didn't. Bending down low, Ace walked purposely along, hands outstretched ever so slightly to keep balance. Upon reaching the narrow end just under the window, she judged the distance carefully. The window ledge wasn't a big as she'd thought. Her hands had good grip however, so it would do.

Anyone student who might have been inside the classroom would have been surprised to see Ace suddenly appear out of nowhere and pull herself up onto the roof using the gutter. The occupant of the room had not been expecting to see this, but was not really surprised. Many strange things happen at St Trinian's and this was hardly one of the oddest. With a chuckle that Ace would describe as more of a series of strangled snorts, they turned away from the window, feeling confident about the bets they'd made and began their way downstairs to collect their winnings.


	15. Decaf and Dodgy Paperwork

**Chapter 14**

**Decaf and Dodgy Paperwork**

'_Betrayal was another thing she had to worry about, as well as everything else.'_

When Kelly met up with Polly, the Geek was turning over every single paper, chair and table in the Language classroom. "What is it?" Kelly eventually asked, having watched her pick up things and sigh for several moments now. Her frustration was growing steadily every ten seconds.

"I can't find my laptop!" she finally answered, annoyed.

Kelly was instantly suspicious. Polly never put her laptop down. It never left her sight. Even when she slept, it was on the table directly in line of view with a solid chain tethering it to the end of her bed. A person needed to have near ninja skills just to touch it without permission. It was one of the few things that were not to be touched. The few others found on this list included Miss Fritton's whisky collection, the alcohol brewing equipment and particular items of clothing in the Posh Totty wardrobe. The consequences for violating this well known but unspoken rule were severe.

"When did you last see it?" Kelly demanded.

"I had it the whole time!" Polly exclaimed. "I turned my back for maybe half a second and it was gone!"

"Who was around?"

Polly just looked lost. "Everyone, it was at breakfast."

Damn, thought Kelly. It could be anywhere by now even in Josey's grubby little hands. "At least the data's safe," Kelly told her.

How could it not be if Polly had a thirty four character login password and at least five other codes to open crucial applications like 'Eye-Spy' (The program that as fed by all the hidden cameras in the school, redesigned by Polly herself) or 'World Trade Market'?

"I know," Polly agreed sighing. "The hard-drive's more impenetrable than the dungeon of the Tower of London. But that still doesn't mean I'm not worried."

"It will be found," Kelly assured her. "We will just have to postpone the investigation."

"About that…"

Kelly glanced at her. What was wrong now?

"Nothing has come up. Most of the options we're bee following have shown up to be dead ends. No one under the name of Ace McKenzie, or even McKenzie for that matter was born anytime in 1989, 1990, 1991 or 1992."

"What about the paperwork?"

"The paperwork was completely dodgy. The address was false and even the bank account was not only dead, it never existed. And according to the enrolment form she's been adopted by a 'John Smith,' which is the worst alias ever invented." Polly then changed topic, "Also, it's become even more difficult to work on it since we have to worry about spies."

"Spies? You mean Josey's league, don't you?"

The Geek nodded.

"Do you know who'd spy for her?" Kelly asked.

"It's hard to tell, because none of the Geeks would ever betray a Geek to anyone, especially to a Chav, but…" She paused. "I don't know if it's the same with you…"

Kelly looked up thoughtfully. Betrayal was another thing she had to worry about, as well as everything else. She had never taken trust for granted, but now she had to be even more cautious than ever before. Who could she really depend on?

"… and the new girl, Ace, she hasn't made many friends apart from the twins. Josey would do almost anything to get her hands on some stuff to blackmail her with, although she'd the one who should be…"

She was certain that she trusted Polly, but was it the same the other way around? Did Polly trust her? What about the twins? They looked up to her but was that trust or respect? These doubts began to make her feel isolated, with only herself and maybe one other person that she could trust.

But even she didn't tell Polly everything. Many things she knew, she never told anyone. It was for preservation rather than lack of faith. The people closest to you were usually the ones who could hurt you the most. Arming people with knowledge could help her, but also be used against her. That's what made these spies dangerous.

Polly's voice broke into her thoughts. "Have you seen Ace?"

Ace, yet another person who needed an eye kept on them. Dividing her attention was becoming more and more difficult. It was like cutting a cake into nice large pieces then having guests show up unexpectedly and needing to adjust the sizes to accommodate for them. The school had been 80% of her cake until she'd been made Head Girl. Then Josey claimed 65% of the cake, leaving the school at 35%. Now Ace also needed attention, and the pieces kept growing smaller.

Kelly sighed slightly. "Yes, I have. I sent her off on another job for me. It keeps her busy and out of the way so I can keep an eye on everything else."

Polly's eyes suddenly doubled in size. "You've done what?"

"I can't watch what Josey's doing when I have to keep her out of trouble or keep stopping them from having another go at each other," Kelly explained.

Polly looked flabbergasted, resembling a gold fish that leapt out of its bowl and couldn't breathe. Her mouth opened and closed several times without words coming out and Kelly started to worry that she had forgotten to breathe. Little did she know that Polly thought Ace was doing was a good thing, instead of being a hindrance.

Ace was actually helping her out, but Polly somehow doubted Kelly would believe her or understand what she meant. Sending Ace away from Josey would only make more trouble for you, she wanted to say. You should let Ace deal with Josey like she has been doing when you're not around. This made it easier for Kelly, but why couldn't she see it?

She took a long time to construct a sentence properly as she wanted Kelly to understand by herself. "When you next see her," Polly said, as though giving an instruction, "look at her."

This confused Kelly. What was up with Polly?

Seeing Kelly's sceptical look, she went on, "Really look. Crystals are found under tons of rock and dirt."

This didn't help. "What are you talking about?"

Polly didn't explain, just shook her head. "When you see it, you'll know exactly what I mean."

Despite Kelly's inquiring gaze, she refused to say anymore.

* * *

The kitchen was invaded twice before dinner that day. Swapping the meals orders around had taken Ace a little longer than she'd first thought as rewriting them hadn't occurred to her until she realised that having a massive crossed out section on a slip of paper was just a tad visible. Turning to leave, Ace glimpsed Josey in the window's reflection and ducked down. Perfect timing, she thought, another chance to get even.

Armed with a wooden spoon, she crouched into the shadows behind the door. Listening closely for the approaching footsteps, she readied herself to push through the door and catch her nemesis off guard. Unfortunately she was the one caught off guard when Josey went to open the door. Instinct made Ace throw herself against the door when the door swang towards her. Halting the door moments before it hit her, she held her breath, sure that she was about to be discovered. Any second now the other girl would turn and see the door had been stopped mid swing. She was trapped, Ace realised. There was nothing she could do about it. Being ambushed had not occurred to her.

Hardly daring to move, she heard Josey purposely rummage around the plates and cutlery. No attempt was make to silence the noise. She was in a hurry it seemed. A slight 'pop' noise was followed by a 'plop' that reminded Ace of a stone being dropped into a pond. Then the footsteps came closer until right near the door itself. A hand firmly grasped the handle and in one swift motion, the door was pulled back to its frame. It shut with a slam, but the kitchen was now empty.

Unable to believe her luck at escaping Josey's notice, Ace rushed over to where she thought Josey had been searching. There was only a line of take away coffee cups with lids on. One lid hadn't been put on right and, after removing it, a ripple could be seen on the surface of the liquid. This meant something had been added to it. She checked the lid. It was supposed to be black coffee, which meant no sugar. It was the right colour.

It didn't seem like a very impressive thing to make the coffee drinker have to put up with sugar they hadn't asked for, in her opinion. Investigating, Ace identified the owner. Kelly. What would Josey gain from adding sugar to Kelly's drink? Unless it wasn't sugar at all. It then caught her attention that there were no sugar grains stuck to any spoon around the cups.

Whatever had been added had made no change in colour to the coffee and it had been done secretly. When that and the fact that Josey and Kelly weren't very friendly were considered, things looked suspicious. Suspicious enough for Ace to hunt down Josey's own cup (Decaf) and drain its contents into the sink. Seeing that decaf coffee was a different colour to black, she tipped some of Kelly's down the sink too then poured it into Josey's. Adding water and a spoon of sugar, it looked near identical to the original contents.

Trying to recreate consumable black coffee was a challenge, so instead she left the empty cup beside the kettle and left a coffee sachet inside it. The cook would think she'd forgotten and fix that up.

The only thing Ace hadn't solved was what had Josey added and why, and it bothered her.


	16. Even Shadows Have Shadows

**Author's Note: Feedback would be much appreciated. Even 'Good' is fine, or you have any questions (That don't spoil the plot) ask away. If you pick up on any continuity errors, let me know, and I'll fix it up. **

**Chapter 15**

**Even Shadows Have Shadows**

"_Ace, how do you feel about doing me one more favour?"_

That evening, Taylor found her plate was covered in fancy salad and fish cakes, while Chloe was horrified at the sight of simple fish and chips. Neither noticed the other however and, unable to do anything else, were forced to eat what they had in front of them or go without. For some reason, Josey suddenly bolted out of the room halfway through her meal.

About an hour after that Ace went to the roof again via the stairs. "If you've got another score to settle, find someone else," she warned before Kelly said a word. "I'm tired to running about doing as you say like a Golden Retriever. I'm not doing any more."

Kelly wasn't fazed. "Who could order spaghetti for dinner tonight?"

"What?"

"You saw the menu," Kelly elaborated. "Who could order spaghetti?"

"The First Years," Ace answered, "but I don't see why that's-"

"What were the Geeks studying earlier?"

"History, but-"

"Did anyone stop you?"

"No," Ace admitted.

"Did you earn any funny looks or whispers?"

"No, I didn't, but why is this so important? If you're trying to make me feel like an idiot, you're doing a great job of it," Ace told her.

"Why do you think I had you run around?"

"You wanted was me out of the way. Sending me to places with few people because you didn't want me to know what you were doing. Well, nice try, but it didn't work," Ace declared.

Kelly's eyes widened. This news had visibly nerved her as normally people tell her that she's so unreadable they would think she was a robot or something. Seeing this, Ace pushed on.

"But I'm the least of your problems, aren't I? You've got a school to earn the respect of and an annoyed fellow former to deal with."

"How-?" she began, but Ace didn't give her a chance to continue.

"Amazing what you hear when you're running about doing as you're asked. The new girl, the freak, that's me. And why should anyone worry about what I'm doing or what I hear? It's not like I could tell anyone. Who'd listen to me?"

"You're very observant," Kelly commented, surprised.

"Well, you're not exactly the sharpest of people," Ace shot back with feeling. "If you can't even tell when you're being followed, how long do you think it will take for Josey to use it to her advantage and sneak up behind you?"

There was a long pause as Kelly slowly turned on her heels.

* * *

Kelly felt like she had been drenched by a bucket of freezing water when she realised that Ace had been following her. It wasn't the fact that Ace had done it or that she had even admitted to doing it. The thing that made her blood turn to ice was that she hadn't even noticed.

For years Kelly had learnt to heighten her senses. Listening for small quiet sounds, identifying chemicals by their smell or amount of flame they produced, being able to tell what someone was thinking by the expression on their face or look in their eye; she prided herself in being able to achieve all these things and others. She could recognise another student's silhouette and their clothes with her memory and recall things extremely quickly.

She was the one who snuck up on people with ease and could exit a room without any notice being made. When she walked along the corridor, she would be able to tell you who was behind her without a glance, just by listening to their gait and footsteps. Some might say she was a living shadow when she chose to be, but it seemed that even a living shadow casts a shadow of its own.

Ace was this shadow.

"How long where you following me?" she asked quietly.

"Long enough to know where you've been, what you've said, who you've been with, and what made your index finger nail split today," Ace informed her.

Oh God, though Kelly.

When you think someone's following you, you start getting worried. You try to tell yourself that it's just a coincidence. They're just happening to be going the same way, that's all. You wait a few corners, a few streets, and take a peek over your shoulder. If they're still there, your nerves are on end and paranoia grows. When you see they have gone, you breathe a sigh of relief and remember how scared you had been. However, being told you'd been followed and you'd had no clue about it was truly terrifying.

Not exactly sure what she wanted to see, she looked at her hands. Her left index finger nail did have a split along the side. She hadn't been aware of it until now. How had had it happened?

"Rough corner of the desk you brushed past in the Art room," Ace enlightened her.

This girl was spookily aware of everything it seemed. She had somehow tagged along behind her everywhere for several hours, yet Kelly had never seen her. Nor had Polly, else she would have said something. Had she ever even been alone today, or had Ace been stalking her like a shadow since she woke up?

"Anything else I should know?" she asked, wondering what the answer would be.

Ace held her chin up with her hand as she pretended to consider and stared off into the distance. "Well, the twins and I showed Mr Bailey out a few hours ago," she began, lifting up a finger. "We had to carry him to the main road on a stretcher just to get to the ambulance, because they refused to pass the school sign out the front. Something about the place being cursed." She lifted a second finger. "The other teachers weren't sad to see him go, and the Headmistress looked rather pleased."

She won the bet then, Kelly assumed. Miss Fritton always seems to know exactly how things are going to turn out. That's how she wins quite a bit of money off the other teachers

Ace raised a third finger, "Polly's laptop. The Emos took it and hid it under a loose tile in the change rooms. It's not there anymore though, because it was going to get wet, so I put it under the loose floorboard of the eighth stair of the staircase."

So that's what happened to it.

Then, Ace dropped a bombshell. "Oh, and Josey tried to slip something nasty in your drink at diner."

"W-what?" she managed.

Ace turned her back to her and seemed oblivious to her utter surprise. "I don't think it tasted very nice," she continued, "because she's spent the last twenty minutes in the bathroom chucking up."

Kelly struggled to speak. Unable to form a better question she asked, "What do you mean by 'tried'?"

"Well, where I'm from people don't let their Prefects or Head Girls or whatever you call them get poisoned. So I did my own swap. I was even nice too. I tipped half of it out and made it really watery."

Kelly looked Ace over, seeing her in a completely different light. This girl had just saved her butt in a very big way. Knowing Josey, it wouldn't have been any light drug in her drink. Kelly was certain she would have been emptying her stomach for hours on end and spending the next few days feeling like something that had been half eaten then spat out, if not for Ace's intervention.

Ace's intervention. It was a very mild way of putting it. It was like saying someone had given them a hand when they had really shoved them out of the way of a passing car due to their own stupidity. Which is exactly what Kelly had done really, wasn't it? She'd been going along at a leisurely stroll and hadn't seen the traps that littered the path ahead until someone else had come up to her, tapped her on the back and said, 'Hey, you all right? You nearly stepped in that pit of spikes.'

Ace turned at this point of Kelly's thoughts and saw her expression. "What?' she asked confused.

Everything felt odd now. Things that once were so simple had gotten complicated and important things had eluded her and it had taken a new girl, practically a stranger, to show her all this. Why? Had she been so oblivious before, or was Ace just terribly alert?

"I don't know what to say," Kelly said honestly.

Ace jumped the gun. "Don't thank me. It was by accident that I saw her do it in the first place. I'd switched the meals around then saw Josey coming in and hid. I was going to jump her when she turned the corner then I saw what she was doing and changed my mind."

Kelly answered, sincerely, "I'm glad you did."

"I jumped her outside the kitchen instead so I'm fine with it. No worries, Kit."

She shrugged it off, just like that! Did she really even understand what she'd done? Did she know what exactly her actions had prevented?

Glancing at Ace's face, Kelly realised she did. She simply chose not to make a big deal out of it. She was the kind of person who would say 'It was nothing' after stopping a house from burning down, or the person who would turn down any offers of repayment after paying for someone else's meal because they knew the other couldn't afford it all.

This fascinated Kelly. She had felt no obligation to do anything, but had done it anyway, and Kelly was incredibly grateful for this. Could this be the reason she had leaped to the twin's aid when she arrived? Is this why the twins tagged along behind her and turned aggressive and protective if anyone spoke ill of her, even behind her back? Did they give her their unwavering loyalty because they felt like they owed her, or was it more than that? Was it possible that they had seen Ace for who she really was on first sight?

It explained nearly all these things, but Kelly suddenly felt extremely guilty of the way she had judged her. She hadn't seen the real person, she had dismissed her as being something that she wasn't, and was ashamed by this.

The discussion she had just had with Polly also came to mind.

"_Have you seen Ace?" _

"_Yes, I have. I sent her off on another job for me. It keeps her busy and outs of the way so I can keep an eye on everything else."_

"_You've done what?" _Polly had been shocked.

"_I can't watch what Josey's doing when I have to keep her out of trouble or keep stoping them from having another go at each other."_

Polly shook her head sadly then shot her a very stern look in the eye. _"When you next see her, look at her. Really look. Crystals are found under tons of dirt and rock."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_When you see it, you'll know exactly what I mean."_

Kelly had thought it odd how passionate Polly had suddenly become about Ace. Now she understood and shared it. She had been so ignorant thinking that she was dealing with her problems by keeping Ace away. She hadn't been doing anything but creating her own mess to fix later. Ace was one of a kind. Incredibly intelligent, practical with initiative and driven by her instincts, and she wasn't content to become just another girl. She would be exactly what she liked and would face down anyone who had a problem it. She was unpredictable, the curve ball that caught the batter off guard. Even Miss Fritton had seen this in her character right from the beginning. She was even winning money by managing to predict how the unpredictable girl would react.

Kelly doubted she would ever meet anyone like Ace ever again.

* * *

There was a long space of quiet when Ace ended the conversation. Thoughts passed Kelly's face like race cars on the final stretch.

"Ace, how do you feel about doing me one more favour?"

Ace crossed her arms across her chest. Another one? It was disappointing that Kelly didn't quite get her point about not liking being sent out of the way.

"I suppose," Ace decided, "but so long as it's within reason. Not like that other stuff you've had me do, though. No more fetching or hiding things, or listening to people's conversations and telling you everything that comes out of their mouth and having to describe it in detail. As long as it's not like that, yeah. I guess so. But only if I can do it my way."

That didn't seem to concern Kelly one bit. She agreed to Ace's terms.

She outlined her favour very broadly, "Do it however you like. But I want big. I want sneaky actions and noticeable results. I want you to be secretive, but make sure everyone sees it. Big, loud, grab people's attention and don't let it go."

There was a glint in her eyes when she said that, and the top right lip of her mouth also twitched into a smirk.

"Give Josey as much grief as possible."

A broad grin stretched across Ace's face when she realised she'd heard correctly. It couldn't get much better than this; being given permission by the Head Girl of a school to create as much trouble and disturbance as humanely possible to a student whose guts you hate. It was the equivalent of being told that it was an 'All You Can Eat' buffet and you could come back as many times as you liked, or that everything in a candy store was for free.

Ace met her eyes and showed her the flames that were burning inside her own. "Kit, it will be my pleasure."

"I said, don't call me that."

She might as well not bothered. Ace was already in 'Revenge' mode, busy plotting.


	17. Big Fish, Little Fish

**Author's Note: She had it coming, didn't she? Thanks to my reviewers! **

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 16**

**Week 2: Big Fish, Little Fish**

'"_Why didn't we know about this?"'_

'Day 8 at St Trinian's:

Feeling very odd. Old too, but I shouldn't feel that way.

Things have changed A LOT more than I thought. Never thought 12 year olds could wrap their heads around complex chemical reactions, then I find myself lagging behind. And half the stuff contradicts what I already know, which makes it even more confusing.

Wonder what I'm missing. Not just here, but the outside word too. Wonder if I spoke to my computer it would answer me. Might not be as absurd as it feels typing it. If only half the people back home knew this much about science and used it like they do here. As if that would ever happen.

Kit and I had a word. Quite a few actually. Thanks to that, I'm no longer 'Little Miss Messenger'.

Nitro timer completed. Took longer than I thought because I have never used equipment like the stuff here before. Most stuff worked the same but didn't feel quite right. Not as dangerous and risky as it used to be. Being Nitro deprived was not fun. Now I've created some more I need to make sure it works. Hmm...

Started thinking about how people ended up here in the first place. I know, well knew, quite a few people who would have loved it here... How old is this place? Coz there was this girl once in the grade above me, a complete terror for the teachers. Vanished out of the blue one day. No one knew where she'd gone but the whole family had up and moved without anyone knowing. Could she have come here? I could ask but… Doubt anyone'd know her. I'll check the school records or something later and see what I come up with.

But first, there is a little debt that needs paying, plus interest.'

* * *

Her supplies were low, and when you don't have much, choices are limited. You can't make brilliant plans out of absolutely nothing. The twins would probably lend her some things from their bag of tricks, but this wasn't about them. This was about Ace and Josey. She had to do everything alone. That was the only think that could happen in a payback situation.

All she had was her resentment, creativity, and a dozen cans of Nitro 9. Beyond all reason that existed in the Universe that was not enough for this. She needed more. She needed goods she couldn't find here. In short, she needed the help of that greasy git of a weasel who hangs out in the garage. She wasn't about to plead to get it though. She would not blackmail, or steal, and she was definitely not going to flirt (Yuck!). She was gonna bargain her way.

She waited until he showed up, finished dealing with the twins and delivering goodies, then approached him.

"Oh, look who it is," Flash announced, drawing attention to her.

Gee thanks.

"Here ta hassle me 'bout money again?"

Play it right, Ace. She shrugged, casually. "Still combing?"

He flicked a bit of hair back. "All 'ight, hotshot. What's you doing here? Ya want sommit?"

"No. Just wanted to test something, and though you might like to see it."

"Yeah? Go on then. Impress me."

"Like I'd ever want to impress you, weasel. I'm just being nice."

"Can't lie to me, nit wit. My charms are just over powering you."

Ignoring him, she pulled out a can and placed it down in a clear area. She set the timer for twenty seconds (fifteen) and moved away. When nothing happened for ten seconds, Flash laughed. "Is that it? Gee, I've seen more impressive things playing lawn bowls."

Ace cocked an eyebrow and watched his face.

Three. Two. One-

Booom!

Flash's hat fell from his head, the shockwave blowing his greasy locks of hair everywhere. "Jesus, Mary and George Bush!"

Ace pushed while he was startled. "20 quid a can."

He blinked, examining the large metal canister she had placed on the bench. "Ya selling?"

"Two conditions. One; eighty percent of the profit goes to me."

Flash scoffed. "You're dreaming, kiddo."

She ignored him. "Two; if I ever find out that my explosives have been used to kill people, I will be mad. Very mad. You won't like me mad. You never want to see me mad."

"True. You're tight enough strung as it is."

She smiled, walked over and slapped that sneering face right on the cheek. The onlookers gasped.

"Don't mess about with me," Ace warned.

"Aie, aie, capt." He caught one look at her face before her hand forced his head sideways again.

Slap!

Oh! That felt good. Punching was better, but slapping was a nice alternative, particularly if she didn't want to bruise her fingers.

"Eighty percent."

He pretended to think about it. "How about sixty?"

Slap!

"Eighty," Ace repeated

"Seventy." He reconsidered, seeing her arm rise again. "'ll right, 'll right, dark horse! Eighty. Just don't slap me!"

She offered her hand and, grudgingly, knowing exactly how hard it could strike, he sealed the deal, both cheeks stinging.

Kelly, unseen by Flash, found herself nodding in approval. It was a good deal. Even better tactics. She could expect big things from this girl.

Ace walked over to the twins, losing her severity. "And that, kids, is how you bargain with traders."

Flash's eyes goggled as the twins high-fived the source of his pain. They were siding with her! Hang on, who had they known longer? Who was the one who bought them their toys? Just who was this chick who had turned his little terrors into her little terrors?

He found that he was correcting her. "No, no, no it aint. That's called bullying."

"That's called life," she replied. "And that," she pointed at the two bright red handprints etched onto his face, "is a sure way to make a client remember you. Seven in the morning, it stings. Nine, it burns. Twelve, it itches. Five, it's a pretty bruise." She grinned. "Oh, and if you see someone with a mark like this, you don't even need to hit them more than once. They give in straight away." She laughed. "Easy pickings."

The twins were gazing at her like she was their god or something, Flash noticed. Her words seemed to engrave themselves into their puny little heads. Not good. If they picked up on the slapping thing, he'd be doomed.

Please, he begged silently. Don't let them turn into mini version of this girl.

That happened to be the moment the twins set off a firecracker and cheered. The maniacal evil scientist gleams in their eyes were identical, and exactly like the shine he'd seen briefly in Ace's eyes when she set off the explosive. They looked alike too, with their hair tied back in a singular plait. And was it just his imagination, or were they a really close knit group, as though they were clones of the one pea and grown together in a pod.

No! Not three of them! One was hard enough to deal with!

* * *

U.N.I.T FILES

WELCOME: BRIGADIER SNOTSWORTH

Kelly moved her eyes off the screen to linger on the slightly self-conscious Polly. What? Just because she could do incredibly clever hacking, modifying and inventing didn't mean she felt like creating funny Internet alias names was beneath her.

"What's U.N.I.T?"

"Stands for 'Unified Intelligence Taskforce', a secret organisation originally branched off the United Nations." After rambling off that long sentence she took another breath and continued, "Formed in the 1960's. Still active. Bases all over the world. China, Peru, Switzerland, New York and three in England. You'll never guess where."

"Surprise me."

"Basement of the Tower of London."

Judging by Kelly's reaction, she had not been expecting that. "Big fish or little?"

The Geek was not fazed by the odd question. She knew the codes, better than most in fact (She had read the 'Book of Codes' and added a few new entries herself). 'Fish' was a term used to describe companies and organisations. The size of the fish referred to the influence and power. The police force, e-bay, most music companies, Google's information archives and the United States Parliamentary Library were little fish. Medium fish were companies like Microsoft, Apple, Nintendo, UK, US and most European Government Files. Big fish were… well, big.

"Big. Very big fish," Polly emphasised. "So big that it took me eight hours just to get this far."

The quickest time Polly had cracked into a website was all of twenty seconds (And that website belonged to the police. Seriously, they needed a real update and crack down on security. It was hardly worth the time). The longest time was NASA's top secret brand new space program defended by mulit-layered antivirus and anti-hacking software patched onto every single link; three hours to construct a 'Trojan Horse' (fancy term for a back door entrance), one minute to access the site through it. This 'U.N.I.T' had to be an extremely big fish for it to take almost three times as long.

"What do we have?" Kelly asked, examining the data.

CIVILIAN NUMBER: 679, 551, 916, 813

NAME/CODE NAME/ALIAS: 'ACE'

INCIDENT/S: ULTIMA (NOT CONFIRMED)

SHOREDITCH INCIDENT

WINDSOR BREAK IN

PERIVALE ABDUCTIONS

CARBURY DIG

GENDER: FEMALE

AGE: 15+

DESCRIPTION: ANGLO-SAXON EUROPEAN. NATIVE BRITISH ACCENT. APROX 5 FOOT. BROWN HAIR.

OCCUPANTION/S: WAITRESS, PART TIME. FIRED.

FINGERPRINTS: NO

PHOTOGRAPH: NONE

RETCON: NO

REASON: DISAPPEARANCE/PROTECTION OF OPERATIVE

CURRENT ADDRESS: UNKNOWN. LAST SIGHTED IN CARBURY.

OTHER/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: ACCOMPINIED CODE 9. ARMED WITH EXPLOSIVES.

"The listed 'incidents' refer to events that happened in 1943, 1963, 1988, 1989 and 1997. The most interesting thing is though, is the mention of 'Code 9," Polly explained.

Kelly frowned, the phrase sounding familiar. "Where have I heard that before?"

"Code 9 is a protocol that activates at certain times. It tracks and records every single thing said over the phone, e-mail, text message, absolutely everything. You know the lockdown we had a few months ago?"

Ah! That was it.

"That was a Code 9. Everything was being tracked. Tracking devices and all kinds of stuff activated and roamed all over the Internet. It was a nightmare keeping it all out and figuring out why it kept coming even though all the computers were disconnected. The Posh Totties were surfing e-bay for high heels." Polly rolled her eyes.

"So you think that this 'Ace' person," Kelly gestured at the screen, "was involved in the protocol?"

"No. Well, maybe. The reason the Code 9 activates is to detect the presence of one of U.N.I.T's former operatives, a freelance by the sound of it, because they never show up when they are called. But, apparently, they have a track record of having bad things happen whenever they show up."

"I'd say. The lockdown was right after that spaceship hoax hit Big Ben."

"Only a handful of people have high enough security clearances know that two people were taken from the outskirts of London after being the Code 9 picked up their whereabouts."

Kelly took the hint. 'Good work, Polly."

"Thank you. Several members of the local police who were on duty no longer recall escorting them to 10 Downing Street. When the rogue missile levelled the place, only one person survived."

Kelly knew the story. It had been all over the news.

'Cabinet Murdered!'

'Downing Street Destroyed!'

'Rough Missile; Conspiracy Plot?'

'The Crisis "Has Passed."'

'New Prime Minister Announced.'

'Britain's Golden Age'.

She'd heard it all before. Naturally, quite a few people though she was related to the new PM. They were wrong. Just because they shared the same name, didn't make them family.

"Harriet Jones."

Polly nodded. "But, there were in fact 3 survivors. The bodies of the two people, the Code 9 and the other person, were never found. Their presence was expertly covered up, but it can be assumed that they survived."

"You're thinking that if this report is right, then that other person could have been..."

"Ace. It seems impossible for this Ace to be the same 'Ace' we've found here."

There was a slight hesitation that lingered in the air at the end of the statement.

"There's something you're not telling me.

Polly's expression darkened. "Five years ago, several girls investigated several secret agencies. They found at least 15 dedicated groups around the globe that are created solely to hide the existence of aliens from the world. MI 6, CIA, the Secret Service; all have specialist extraterrestrial sections."

Kelly smothered a laugh. "You're kidding!"

It took Kelly five seconds to assess that she was not kidding. Not a joke; she was looking too serious and stern.

"Really?"

"And it seems like we've just found another one. U.N.I.T is a military organisation that defends Earth from alien invasions, and has been since its formation."

She frowned. "Why didn't we know about this?"

"Former students did, but maybe they thought it best not to talk about it. I understand why. After finding several hidden files on old hard drives and CD's, I saw that they had been corrupted by the Storm Worm." Polly spotted the face of non comprehension and quickly corrected, "The virus that swamped the Internet three weeks ago."

"Oh. That."

"Despite the numerous layers of protection established years ago and updated every few months, when I recovered the files certain things were missing. In a list of the organisations, there was a whole paragraph and a bullet point with nothing there but noughts and ones."

Only one thing had been affected. "The virus only deleted certain things."

"Exactly," Polly agreed. "It was programmed to find any files anywhere that had any information about something and remove them completely. Do you have any idea how difficult that would be?"

Kelly hesitated. Printers and laptops, she could work fine. Firewalls and hacking, she left that to Polly and the Geeks. It mightn't be impossible for her to do, but she'd rather save herself the embarrassment by letting them do the technical stuff for her.

"I'm guessing it's not easy."

Polly laughed at her ignorance. "'Not easy'? It would take a genius weeks to code everything and then months to bypass every single firewall, password protected storage account, e-mail address, website, hyperlink, antispyware, auto-save and encrypted file to eradicate whatever it was after."

Kelly smiled. Not that she found the idea funny, but that it took a 'genius'. Polly was on a whole different level. "How long?"

"I couldn't do it."

The Head Girl's eyes widened. No. No way. The amazing cracker responsible for breaking into some of the world's most secure networks, the mastermind who knew the black market like her kitchen, the unknown hacker wanted in twenty seven countries, the only person in the United Kingdom who could say they had caused the Internet to crash just to stop an online chess match going ahead because using their adjusted software against unsuspecting players was "Cheating", was not skilled enough to do such a thing? That felt... very, very wrong.

"You're sure?" she asked again, to be certain she wasn't hearing things that threatened the Geek's untouchable skills.

The response was not reassuring. "Give me a hundred clones of myself, a hundred modified super computers, a year and several thousand gallons of coffee and it might, just might, be possible."

"I'm taking that as a no."

"Yeah.

Whoever this person was, they were way out of their league. If Polly couldn't do what they'd done, then they could be a threat; a very large threat that would be possibly unstoppable. They could not risk drawing this person's attention. They had to back away, very slowly and as carefully as possibly to avoid detection. Yet, despite knowing that it was the right move to take, it was agony for Kelly to announce, "We're dropping the investigation, right now." It was admitting defeat, even though there had been no battle. It was still a loss, and Kelly hated to lose.

The Geek agreed and Kelly left her to it, knowing that she was about to experience several hours of self induced torture as there was no way she could stop herself mulling over the whole thing for hours on end.

* * *

Ennie, meanie, minie, mo. Let's catch Josey by the toe. When she squeals, don't let her go. Ennie, meanie, minie, mo.

Ace skipped on the grass, well out of sight of anyone else and smothered her hysterical giggles.

Playing around with nursery rhymes? Her inner voice tutted. Your standard has severely dropped, Ace.

She wasn't bothered by it. Oh, well. It's fun.

You're supposed to be being good, her head reminded her.

Nah. Why bother? More trouble than it's worth. Being good's naff and boring.

Just because Kelly said you could, doesn't mean you should!

No, Ace answered her 'good' voice. But it means I've got permission.

You don't need to do anything, except cruise along. The Professor will show up any day and this will all be over. It's only a matter of time. You can surely contain your destructive impulses that long, can't you?

Pfft! She kicked at the grass and some came up in a huge clump. Just what she needed; an inner voice that talks no sense. If I wanted to, yeah, but I don't. Why would I? I can do what I like here, and not get in trouble!

Until he gets back, the voice pestered.

Ace sighed. I'll worry about that when he gets here. Besides, I'm not going to blow up the whole school. Well, maybe just a bit of it, she admitted.

He won't be happy. You know he's gonna be mad, yet you don't care!

Oh, go away. You're ruining it! I've had a gutful of Josey and her twits, and it's about time I paid them back the favour. So, why don't you just sit back and let me handle it, since you've been doing so great recently?

It refused to obey, and nattered on about 'self control' and 'whole point of coming here was to learn' stuff that skimmed over her head. She compromised.

Fine, I'll make a deal. If they annoy me, I'll just annoy them back, but with a bit more oomph, do one better. That's not giving in. That's called getting even, and that's completely different.

Even her good side wasn't totally pure. It knew this was the best offer she was willing to give.

Deal. But you have to keep to it.

Yeah, yeah. Now shut your mouth so I can think of something.

* * *

Whatever you do, start small. Whoever came up with that was either a criminal genius, or idiot who'd had a lucky break. When you're treading on unfamiliar territory or conducting a new experiment, you should test things first. It's like playing cards. You don't pull your best card out first, in case it's not good enough and you lose it. Then you've only got really weak cards left, and there's no point playing them.

So Ace kept to these ancient words or advice and tested the pool before diving in. She was also waiting for Flash to get back to her with some certain tools necessary to her major plot.

Josey was fairly popular, few friends, mainly worshippers. But they wouldn't stick with her if the going got tough. They were the bricks in Josey's protective wall. Pull out one or two, and she'd crumble down. In other words, pick on the minions to get to the boss.

It wasn't the way she normally did things. Normally it was all 'Blow 'em up' and ask questions later, but Nitro was a bit too extreme for shaking off some followers. They couldn't help but be attracted to Josey's authority and power. Couldn't help being mindless sheep and doing as she said, either. Not every one of them could be like that, surely. She'd just have to find out by picking on them, one at a time.

This was not bullying. This was called 'tactics'. It was unfortunate that she had to pick on mostly harmless girls (As mostly harmless as these girls got), but it was the most effective action to take. And, once the others saw their number picked off one by one, they might even abandon their leader. Which was much easier that trying to get through all of them.

She would wait for a chance. Let them make the move, then she would counter-attack when they least expected. Night time mostly, until they learned to stick together in bunches after she jumped a few individuals in the corridors late at night.

She tried to keep the revenge as close to the original deed for the most satisfaction. They flicked paint at her so Ace obtained a paint gun from the garage and she used them for target practice. They threw a plate of food at her, and she went and raided the kitchens for something good. That's when she found a secret store of marsh mellows, begging to be involved in a rather sticky plan.

Have you ever stuffed melted marsh mellows into balloons? Neither had Ace, but it turned out brilliantly. She'd lob them across the room and then the balloons would burst and cover the victim in gorgeous goo.

They put a few drops of orange juice in her glass of water. Mmmm. Tasty. Of course, only weirdos drink water all day. No, Coke was the 'cool' thing to drink. Coke also reacts wickedly with chocolate M&M's. Lots of M&M's in Coke makes a lot of mess. The forth! Oh that froth covered the floor and left them feeling all sticky, not to mention thirsty for another drink. Naturally, all that was left were bottles of 'spring water'. Couldn't have been very fresh. Ace assumed they tasted quite sour actually, just like vinegar. She had nothing to do with it (Duh! Who else would have timed it so perfectly?).

Then they went and piled buckets of sand on her bed, even in the hammock. Hardly damaging, but very annoying. She racked her brains for something even more annoying. Messy was good, sticky and messy even better. Messy, sticky and hard to clean up, now that was an idea.

By chance, she stumbled across one of the male teacher's rooms (Who might teach geography) and there was maybe a month's supply of shaving cream kept in cans. Naturally, she was attracted to it. Oh, look! She examined them closely. Large, metal, nozzle at the top, perfect for holding something. Pity they were full of shaving cream. Now, how could she get rid of that?

* * *

Someone ticked you off?

Do you need to get them back?

Are you at a loss at what to do?

If so, then this could be just the thing for you!

The timeless 'Shaving Cream Explosion' prank! Classic but still so damn good that you just can't say no!

No location unreachable! No room is safe! The thickness of a manila folder is perfectly measured in order to slip under any door no matter how small!

All you have to do is fill it up with shaving cream and bam! You're ready to go.

The joy of squeezing the cans empty! The delightful stomp on the folder after locating a target! The wonderful sound of cries of the surprise that crept under the door!

Highly recommended for stress relief. It's the equivalent of popping bubble wrap, while still causing mess and destruction! Just what every teen needs!

One bottle can be yours for only 6 quid!

Contact your local supermarket for details, (or alternatively just nick some from any male between the ages of 25 and 60). Some conditions apply (Such as the fact that your chosen male might be growing a beard, if so, poor you).

* * *

Gradually, Josey and Co figured out who the cause was. Sometimes they saw her, and turned the other way. Others, they ganged up on her. Those were the times to be most careful to watch for. If they couldn't see her, they couldn't get her.

That's when the 'sneaky' attacks started. Having discovered all her books had been vandalised by their Chav markings, Ace found permanent markers and drew symbols all over their faces and hands while they slept (The moustache suited Josey as it was thick and curly; the picture of evilness).

Ah, revenge was as sweet as a strawberry dipped in melted chocolate.


	18. Shields, Spoons and Surprises

**Author's Note: Yes, it's been a bit of a wait. Sorry. Been straightening out bits of the story. Won't bore you with any other excuses, just read on. **

**Chapter 17**

**Shields, Spoons and Surprises**

"_Know the saying about the iceberg? Yep. It was only the beginning."_

The next week was a mixture of ups and downs for Ace. To start, her magnificent hammock was a delight to lounge in (Once she got the sand out). Sleeping was a whole different thing. After several awkward falls out of it in the middle of the night, she placed her mattress directly beneath so at least she wouldn't wake the whole dorm with the tremendous thump she made as she hit the floorboards. After the third night, she'd found the plaited ropes slashed. Someone had had enough of her falling.

Kelly had been acting strange for a while. To say it in the politest way, she was distracted. It was as though she was constantly worrying about something, and that is not good for a person. She disappeared once a week (She'd done the same thing last Wednesday, Ace noticed) although her destination and the reason she went there remained unknown. When she was around, however, she spoke the same, acted the same, but wasn't quite 'there'. Ace had no clue what had caused it or why the head of the school either had a lost, determined, annoyed, or frustrated expression on her face, but it didn't take her long to see other people using the girl's lack of attention to deliver some pay back (Herself included, but she had permission).

After the return of the glitter (Which Andrea had not owned up for) and Ace's constant annoyance, Josey and Co had gone to war with her, immediately set about getting revenge (Decreasing any possible chance of Andrea admitting guilt as the punishments were not enviable).

Their message was clear, they wanted her gone. Someone (From Perivale, but she'd long forgotten who) once told her that when she set her mind on something, she would stick to it like hot glue, like cement, and refused to let go just as a Pit bull wouldn't release its grip. Her control over her own actions was severely tested when her mouth was assaulted by an incredibly salty toothbrush. The memory of the terrible flavour was rinsed out of her mouth (Good, but not how she would have liked) when she was shoved face first into a fountain later that day. Damn! She'd been snuck up on. Bursting through the surface she inhaled a deep breath as she whipped her eyes, allowing the culprits to get away.

No one nearby said anything whenever she passed, but the second she was out of sight she heard them snigger or outright explode into fits of laughter. Her temper bristled and she pulled a few stray leaves from her now soaked braid. Girls became fascinated with their phones whenever she walked into a room. It took a minute for her brain to fit together what she was seeing; a video of her humiliation. Smirks and smiles followed and preceded her everywhere. They all knew, but none had the guts to laugh openly at her. Cowards, she thought. Gutless people don't laugh in your face. Instead they hide behind their technology and pretend they know nothing.

Worst of all, she had no idea of what to do about it. She couldn't fight them on their own terms when it was beyond her understanding. That kind of battle was different. You couldn't shut it up with a sharp tongue or hard fist. It also made her paranoid about what else had been filmed and broadcast to everyone's portable devices.

She hated it, hated them, hated this school, hated this time period.

She shouldn't be here, she didn't belong. Who had she been kidding? She never should have stepped foot in this awful place. Schools weren't her scene but a boarding school; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week contact and exposure to strangers? The turn of nearly two decades separated them and her, and that was a one vast crevasse to cross. She was from the 20th Century. This was the 21st. Being accepted here could only be possible if she had lived all the time they others had in this time.

It occurred to her how old she'd be this year if she hadn't travelled in time. Over 30! Geesh! That's almost half a century! Her life would have already been nearly over! She might have died years ago of old age, although sheer boredom was more likely. What if she had managed to live that long? She concluded that it was possible that she could be out there somewhere remembering all this, assuming she did survive. Then, she had a brainwave; she could contact herself...

No. That's bad. Meddling with timelines was messy. No more crossing her own life. She had promised…

Feeling as though she had been struck by a thunderbolt, she slumped suddenly. Something of explosive significance occurred to her. She was alone here, completely alone. The Professor had gone. He had promised that he was coming back. But what if he didn't? What if he broke that promise and left her behind? What if he already had? Her thoughts came together into a single word.

Abandoned.

He had left her.

For that minute, a period of sixty seconds, she thought of nothing. No happiness, no sadness, no fear, no rage. Just empty. Her body was a shell that housed a cold, emotionless soul. A dead soul, a lifeless spirit. He had done it again. Regardless of whether he returned or not, nothing he could ever say or do would make her forgive him for the black emptiness that engulfed her and, for the third time in her life, healing wounds ripped open.

* * *

The following day Ace stopped doing things. Firstly, she stopped caring about what the others thought about her. Her shields were up again after a swift polish. Nothing harmful could penetrate them, so her scars were concealed, impenetrable, safe. It was like she'd been given a Tetanus shot; her immunity had been boosted; and it was being noticed.

The second thing she stopped was waiting for him to come and get her. If he's going to, he will. If he doesn't, he won't. There was no point wasting time thinking about 'what if'. It was pointless and distracted her from everything else. So she stopped.

Thirdly, she stopped holding back. The next time Josey did something, she would have no idea what hit her. Yes, it was time to go out on the attack. She had ideas about what she would do, but she knew she needed something special to show Josey who she was really up against. Then her mouth slowly rose into a grin that would have made anyone shiver at the sight.

Preparation took a couple of days, so it was the first day of the third week when she implemented her plan.

* * *

"Hope ya know what ya doing with that," Flash told her, carefully handing her a bag of goodies.

Ace gave him a death glare. He was silenced, imagining that killer right hand hitting him into next week if he dared say another word.

She looked briefly inside then closed it. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"That's what I'm 'fraid of," Flash muttered as she left.

* * *

You never know what will happen at St Trinian's. One minute you're wondering why Josey and co had became obsessed with their drawers of clothing and shrieking about not being able to find anything, the next the group's clothing and underwear had been stitched together to form a banner that hung from the banisters of the great hall. The other students were too busy pointing at the incredibly embarrassed girls who were staring at the roof trying to figure out how on earth they were going to get their stuff down, to notice that the banner was not the end of the entertainment.

Know the saying about the iceberg? Yep. It was only the beginning.

"Oi!" cried Taylor. "Look!"

"What the-?" Andrea's eyes widened as the whole scene magically appeared before her.

Polly lowered her glasses further down her nose to confirm what she was seeing.

The twins whispered "Wow," and knew they had been outdone.

Had anyone been watching Kelly instead of the floor they might have seen her clouded eyes clear. She blinked, drawn back to reality by the absurdity in her sights.

"Hmm?"

For the first time in days, she was completely aware of what was happening around her. She was no longer wandering around not seeing everything like she used to. Any potential observers might have been treated to one of her rare moments of pure confusion followed up with the broadest grin her red lips had ever formed. The only thing stranger than finding picnic rugs with bowls, cups and cereal boxes full of cornflakes on the floor instead of the usual long tables and benches was the knowledge that the door was nowhere near wide enough for someone to fit the massive tables through. And didn't the twins know it; they had tried.

Then the posters caught their attention. Every inch of wall had been covered up multiple copies of six wanted posters.

WANTED: Alana.

WANTED: Caitlin.

WANTED: Cassandra.

WANTED: Isabelle.

WANTED: Angela.

And, predictably, the leader of the gang; WANTED: Josey.

Authentic looking, they might have passed for real if the photos hadn't been purposely taken at unflattering angles and the goaties and thick monobrows hadn't been scrawled on them in thick black texta.

As she smirked, it occurred to Kelly that she had been dwelling about the wrong thing. Was it vital for her to know absolutely everything about this Code 9 and U.N.I.T? No. It wasn't worth the risk of getting caught or put on their radars. What was important was that whoever had planned this was proving to be more than anyone had expected, which perfectly fit the description of a certain new girl of the name Ace McKenzie.

Who just happened to have gone unnoticed sitting near the corner of her room, crunching on a few slices of toast until drawing attention to herself.

"Never liked the whole long table thing you had going on." She took another bite. Crunch. "-nyone 'ungry?"

Kelly's lips twitched. Seizing the moment, she walked out of the gathering and, with enviable grace and dignity for someone in a skirt, sat cross legged on the picnic rugs beside her. Obliviously, she poured herself some cereal and reached for the jug of milk. The twins were the first to follow her example for being childish was fun, and slowly, despite the oddities around them, the other girls began adjusting to the change in environment, a few mumbling their complaints about the 'indignity' of sitting on the floor like four year olds, but eventually accepted their fates.

After pouring their breakfast, people became increasingly aware of a lack of something important. Despite Ace's display, not a piece of toast could be found anywhere but a small thing like that wouldn't cause a frantic search or cries of alarm. Not even the cereal boxes containing the wrong cereal created such a stir. No, that honour belonged to the rarely considered sheer brilliance that had been dubbed 'the spoon'.

They never underappreciated the invention again after having to scoop the contents of their bowls out with their fingers.

Ace sniggered and openly laughed at the glares. Kelly and several others, although not amused to be among the victims, couldn't help but be impressed. Looks like she'd finally started earning her place.


	19. Code Rascal

**Chapter 18**

**Code Rascal **

'_But then they said the magic words and all her _

_determination and self control went out the window.'_

It felt good to be back Ace thought running around, preparing all the little snares and paybacks that had haunted her dreams, begging to be created and unleashed on the real world. Some things, people can't help. She couldn't help this anymore than the Professor could help being smug after solving something. Just like the twins who were only too glad to claim ownership to whatever cash and other valuable goods Mr Bailey had left behind, including a bottle of whisky Ace hoped they would share. Not just because it was whisky and she felt like their achievement was worth a glass or two, or because she knew they'd never convince anyone that they were a year older than 12 so their chances of obtaining alcohol legally were very slim (For a good reason). No, she was just terribly aware that it was an awfully large bottle, with an awful large amount of liquor in it, and not an awful lot of them, and it would defy all known laws about mass if they downed the whole lot between them.

Ace still hoped they'd remember who'd helped them set up the eviction and thank her for it.

Now, where was she…? Oh, yes, being free. It was very good. How she'd survived before, she had no idea, but she would never try it again. Because she just wasn't the kind of person who wanted to be like everyone else, 'everyone' being normal, non-St-Trinian people. Trying to stop a tidal wave with only a sandcastle just couldn't work. The same should be said for containing your true personality. You either were forced into becoming someone you weren't, or gave up. Ace had chosen the later.

There were many positives to this:

Not more pretending to be good anymore. Yeah!

Being able to get Josey back for everything. (YES!)

She had lots of new toys to play with. Oh, when she got her hands on one of those flamethrowers...

She got to push Josey into the fountain full of soap suds and bubble bath. Now she only needed to be nearby whenever she passed the fountain for Josey to scurry off.

Kelly should approve of the payback, (She did get her permission) and if the Head Girl approved, most of the others might follow suit and not oppose it. That didn't mean they would support it though.

Being herself might get the others to start giving her the right attention instead of the wrong type. Not 'Oh look the new girl. Let's do stuff to her', but 'Let's see what she'd up to now. Sure to be interesting." (She could hope, couldn't she?) Hopefully they'd stop thinking that she was the easiest person to pick on and had chosen somebody else. (Good for Ace. Not so good if you're the person who's just fallen down to the last rung on the ladder. They have her sympathy)

As for the bad...

Josey really hated her now.

She was likely to try and get revenge.

Someone had moved the flamethrowers, as though knowing her plans. (Damn!)

Josey went out of her way to try to cause her trouble.

She really really hated her now.

Moving away from all that, it could be said that Kelly surprised Ace at breakfast. After all, when there was several hundred other places she could have sat, it seemed extremely unlikely that she'd chose one directly beside her. But she had. Why? Someone who had heaps of power in a place like this didn't side with the new kid, the outsider, the culprit, not without a good reason. Not unless she was proving a point or something.

Her intentions stayed unknown, and she had given no hints as to what she had been thinking about when she picked singular soggy cornflake after cornflake out of the bowl and into her mouth. She had not looked annoyed by the inconvenience. Actually, she looked pleased. Pleased! It made Ace even more confused and her fingers twitched and itched whenever she thought about it. There had to be a plan going on here, and for some reason, she had involved Ace in it. Whether or not she wanted to be, had yet to be decided.

Then again, she wouldn't have much choice. She'd already be involved anyway. Oh, and she couldn't help investigating something that begged for attention. It was a habit. Maybe a bad habit, needing to know about stuff people sometimes didn't want to tell you. Blame the job. Blame the Professor. It works. Most of the time.

A shadow fell over her as something, no someone, fell down on her. Instinct cut in and she lashed out without mercy, her first making contact with a face and her leg stuck a shin.

"Gerr-off!" Ace shouted as she continued to struggle despite being pinned face down. Hands seized her legs and she lost grip on the floorboards, being dragged backwards (Ouch! Splinters!). The moment they released her she sprung to her feet and plunged a hand into her jacket to pluck out a can. She faltered.

"How'd you do it?"

She closed her eyes, held them shut. Upon opening them again, she found nothing had changed. She returned the can to the hidden inner pocket. "And what makes you think it was me?"

"The timer-"

"-the chemicals-"

"-the bubble bath-"

"- the wanted posters-"

"-the worried look Flash had a few days ago-"

"-and Josey."

Ace tapped her foot on the ground, slightly impatient. Hmm, well when they put it like that... "And how does that justify using me to clean the floor just then?"

Her kidnappers smirked knowingly. "Teach us."

She froze, her blood having turned into tiny freezing shards of glass. "What'd you say?"

"Teach us."

Ace shook her head. Not a chance. "Nuh-uh. No way. You're, what, ten?"

"Ten and fourteen days, seventeen hours and nine minutes."

"Ten and fourteen days, seventeen hours and eight minutes."

Her mind balked. "How do you remember that?"

"We have a watch," was the response.

Ok then. Just a tad creepy that they were so very accurate about their own age. Ace shrugged. "It doesn't matter if you're ten and eleven months, twenty three hours and fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds, you're still ten!" she told them.

"So?" They pouted.

"So, ten year olds should not be going around doing the stuff I do. There's at least six years difference between us."

Well, more like 20 something, but let's not mention that.

"Why not?" they implored.

"Because..." She tried to find the perfect explanation whilst not looking at the puppy dog faces shining expectantly at her, made even harder when they deliberately moved into her sight whenever she looked away. "Because... You're ten!"

"Why does that matter? We're good."

"It don't matter how good you are, I'm not teaching."

Their annoyed eyes and crossed arms suggested they were thinking of locking her up somewhere until she changed her mind.

Ace sighed. "Look, don't take it offensively. I've seen some of the stuff you guys do. But my stuffs on a whole other level, you understand? It's not about making fun of people, although that is fun, it's about... blowing stuff up really. Destructive, not creative. That's the difference."

They were still not impressed. "Teach us," they commanded.

"I said, no."

Hold up a second, Ace. You're stuck in a dark closet with Satan's twin daughters here. Don't give them any reason to kill you.

"Even if I did, which I'm not, what would I get out of it?" Ace asked.

And they mentioned every single little monstrous toy she could ever dream of, but she stuck firm. Nothing should make her change her mind. Her decision was final. No compromises, no think-overs.

But then they said the magic words and all her determination and self control went out the window.

"We have the flamethrowers."

* * *

"This," Ace announced to the group, "is blackmail."

They grinned at her, all thirty odd of them. "Not really."

"You are going to get in so much trouble," she continued.

"We," they corrected.

Sadly they were right. She was involved in this stupid, crazy scheme, although not willingly. They alone knew the location and the only way she'd find out where apart from tearing the whole place apart was to do as she was told. Damn clever little twits.

At least they weren't pressing her about teaching them. Yet. But this... Ace wasn't sure what she'd prefer.

God, Kelly is going to murder her when she finds out, and there's no doubt she will. Kelly sees and knows pretty much anything, although Ace wished she would hurry up and find out about this before anything happens.

"Let's go."

Too late.

"Oh," she moaned. "Kelly is gonna kill me!"

Smirks all around only made her feel worse; they knew she would face the brunt of the 'Kelly rage' as they called it. Not again.

* * *

It's quiet, too quiet, mused Polly. She could actually think through her complex computer programming number strings without a single distraction. She should have been relieved, except this kind of... peace never lasts long. Glancing at the clock in the bottom corner of her Mac she counted down from ten. After thirty seconds and still no chaos breaking out, she grew concerned. Waiting another twenty counts, she lifted her gaze from her computer screen. Fifteen other heads remained bent, multiple fingers rapidly cracking, decoding, coding. Polly pressed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, looking about. This is odd. Very odd.

The abnormity remained unnoticed by her fellow potential geniuses, so focused in their work they were. Five clicks of the touchpad mouse, eight keycodes and the whole school covered the monitor, all areas, save one. She started searching in the most likely places of trouble causing. The teacher's rooms were only occupied by their intended occupants, the bathroom was empty, the corridors creepily vacant, the dorm filled with Polly and the rest of the Geeks with the Emos meditating in a corner. Chavs were scattered around the place; the classrooms, the roof, outside. There was no need for Polly to confirm the Posh Totties current whereabouts. They rarely left their little salon like room except when going into town and, sadly, chances of not noticing them leave were fifteen billion to one, because if you didn't see their fluffy skin revealing outfits or catch a whiff of their overpowering perfume, you'd hear them asking around about the location of the keys to the minivan hidden in the garage (Under the third crate of vodka on the top shelf in the closet entrance).

No, everyone was accounted for. Everyone bar the youngest of the crowd, and their absence alone was enough to have everyone panicking and their alarm bells deafening them.

Polly scanned the remaining camera visions; Miss Fritton puffing at a cigarette oblivious to Matron's attempt at a sneaky entrance to snatch some prized vintage brew, kitchen was guarded by the cook who was still furious about the appalling state of the spoons found sticking out of the hockey pitch only hours ago, only Celia haunted the garage, Darcy-Cam showed the beloved dog was out sniffing something outside near the fountain. No, this couldn't be right, she thought.

She checked again, and then with no success, checked for a third time, drawing only one conclusion: they were not on school grounds.

Truants at St Trinian's were one of three people. One, new girls doing a runner, fleeing for their lives, usually terrified out of their mind. Two, Posh Totties. There was no denying they did get out, it was just a matter of how conspicuously. Then there was three; those who did it for a whole different reason.

Thirty nine girls don't just run off even if they were the newest editions. The current holder of that title was Ace. Speaking of which, Polly hadn't seen her either.

A possible explanation came into being inside her super-computer brain.

Oh dear.

* * *

So it came to pass that the first person dared to approach the door since the appointment of Head Girl, Kelly Jones, although, it was destined not be the last in her reign. Every single alarm was trigged, but not a trap sprung. For the room was occupied and such defences were not necessary for the rage of the occupant would sent any intruder running for the hills.

The room was the exception to the Eye-Spy Network, the most secure, secret place in the school, also the most formidable. It had its own surveillance equipment and tools too. Why should that be so surprising? Head Girls could be former Geeks too.

The door swung open just enough to squeeze through without revealing anything concealed inside. Polly jumped, not expecting for her arrival to be... well, expected.

"Polly," Kelly stated, that careful observing glint in her eyes.

The Geek quickly recovered. "It's a Code Rascal."

Kelly leaned against the door in what seemed like a relaxed position. It wasn't. Had anyone been monitoring her pulse, they would have found that it spiked. She sighed.

"Bugger," she breathed. Not even Polly, less than two meters away, heard her. "Right," she said louder. "Let's go find them then."

She strode off down the hall only to hesitate when Polly called after her.

"One more thing..."

Kelly rolled her eyes skywards out of her sight. What now? She already had thirty nine missing girls and order to establish in her absence whilst she went looking for them. What could possibly make it any worse?

"Ace is gone too."

Any other girl wouldn't have blinked. So another new girl went missing, so what? It was a common occurrence, happened so regularly that the exact number of incidence had long since been lost. This was just another to add to the non-existent list. Except this girl had not only got up and vanished, she'd taken a third of the school with her. Pretty bad, but not the worst case scenario.

However, to add to the mix of already awful cauldron of trouble, these weren't the Totties, or the Chavs, or the Emos or even the Geeks. No, these were the youngest girls, the ones most open to suggestion and most likely to dig a six feet trench to hurl themselves into, the ones who'd probably open a hundred tins of radioactive mutant worms just to see what would happen, the most dangerous girls of the lot.

They were young, they were fierce, they were reckless, most probably armed, and definitely not the cute little innocent angels they appeared to be. They were the wild hearts of St Trinian's, and they'd gone on an outing. Miss Frittion would be having a coughing fit into her whisky bottle by this point, then calming herself by drinking glass after glass of pure Trinian homebrewed vodka while Kelly tracked them down, rounded them up and dragged them all out by the hair.

There was one more thing that had not been considered in the equation. This was no ordinary new girl. This was the uncontrollable, unpredictable Ace, and Kelly didn't have a single doubt in her mind that she hadn't left her jacket and cans of terror behind.

All this dawned and fell onto Kelly's shoulders.

Ten years olds and matches should not mix. They do at St Trinian's. But pyromaniac ten year olds within reach of explosive materials, now that was hell just waiting to happen.

Shit.


	20. Noticed

**Author's Note: 1st post of the new year. Enjoy**

**Chapter 19**

**Noticed**

'"_Unfortunately, 'everything' doesn't cover the amount of credit Peaches uses a day, the original colour of Flash's car or the First Years current location."'_

What had happened? Ace wondered to herself, looking worriedly after a pair of girls with hockey sticks running towards the play equipment where other children their age had seen then, gotten up and were screaming. First it had been all "Let's go for a walk off the grounds," next they were in town wrecking havoc, in daylight, in their school uniforms. Not good. Very not good. Especially using spray paint to turn the road multicoloured. Pretty but hard on the eyes, especially future travellers on the road. At least they had the sense not to write their names on anything.

She had been powerless to stop them raiding the corner shop and relieving them of all their lollies, chips and soft drink. Ten year olds mugging a shop! Had it been a toy store or a sports store... Ace shuddered at the thought. She couldn't do anything about the kids (and their parents) trapped in the playground castle under siege, trying to keep the little demons away.

It was an awful feeling, not knowing what to do. Worse, there wasn't anyone else about who could, or would, do anything about it. It was hard to decide if she'd rather have the police here or not. She didn't particularly want a ride to the station any more than she wanted to be responsible for them.

Why had she been caught up in this? Oh. The flamethrowers, right. Ok, then why had they used that piece of blackmail to get her to come? It wasn't like they'd gotten their nimble fingers on her Nitro (Although that could be a matter of time), or she was helping them. Must be another reason. They could have come here on their own, her presence wasn't needed. Bet they just wanted a scapegoat. That had to be it. She was only there to take the blame and that made her feel like a red gumball in a bag of blue gumballs; alone, accidentally there and terribly outnumbered.

She couldn't just let them use her like this! They'd get away with it and she'd be the one in trouble. And when the deliverer of punishment was Kelly, you'd avoid it as much as possible.

"Ok, I think you've gone far enough," Ace shouted hurriedly before her entourage saw that large double-decker bus guarded by a single, defenceless driver she'd just caught sight of around the corner. "Why don't we head back now?"

To fit the response in a nutshell, they ignored her. They had a point. Why should they listen to her? She was the captive here while they were the evil genius boss people. It had to be said they were the youngest evil geniuses she'd come across, and possibly the scariest because they weren't 50, not 40, not 27. No, they'd only just hit double digits!

She should not even be here! It shouldn't be her problem. But she didn't have much choice. They were holding the flamethrowers to ransom! But remember Kelly's wrath. Ace really didn't want to face that for letting these terrors do as they pleased.

No flamethrowers or 'Kelly Rage'. Tough decision. Flamethrowers, Kelly. Flamethrowers, Kelly. Flamethrowers, Kelly. Flamethrowers, Kelly-

Oh no! They'd seen the bus.

Right, that's it.

"Oi!"

Amazingly, not a sound followed the holler. Someone had hit 'Mute' on the remote.

And thirty nine faces turned to look at her. Not angrily though. Not 'shut up, we're gonna kill you' looks. No nothing like that. They were perked up like meerkats searching the surrounding plains for predators, like dog's ears pointing straight up hearing their master's call, like a child stopping their crying because they can see their mother. The pack of wild, uncontrollable First Years was looking to her, expectation in their eyes. It would have freaked anyone out. It should have freaked Ace out, but she held strong. She had to. No 'Kelly Rage', not today.

"Home, now!"

They were going to pounce on her, turn her black and blue. Who was she to tell them what to do? They didn't listen to anyone but their Headmistress and Kelly. She wasn't either of them, held no power they did. She'd brought this on herself.

Then the First Years lowered their weapons, stepped away from their targets. One long line of girls walked past her, weapons sheathed, pockets filled with the spoils of their victory, eyes watching the ground as they passed under her disbelieving gaze.

* * *

"Where were they headed?" Kelly asked striding down the stairs in sets of one or two (An achievement in heels), several other girls tagging along behind, including Polly, Taylor, Andrea and Chelsea.

"They just sort of… poof, and then they were gone," murmured Chelsea.

"Maybe they found an Invisibility Cloak?" suggested Andrea.

"Don't be stupid. They can't vanish, they ain't ghosts!" exclaimed Taylor. "'ot sure 'bout you thou," she added looking pointedly at Andrea, "But, they're not. They're hidin'."

"Where then, genius? Under the carpet?"

"There is no carpet here, Casper the Ghost." Taylor retorted.

"Bet you had think about that, didn't you?" Andrea grinned.

The truth showed as a slight reddening of the other girl's cheeks. "Shut up!"

Kelly instructed, "Stop bickering and give suggestions. We need to find them."

"I dunno!" was the hot reply. "Go ask ta Geeks. They know 'everything'."

Polly ignored the jibe. "Unfortunately, 'everything' doesn't cover the amount of credit Peaches uses a day, the original colour of Flash's car or the First Years current location."

Taylor tutted. "Oh, poor 'eeks. How does it feel ta be as clueless as ta rest of us?"

"Rather satisfying actually, for I know that you will also be experiencing the same feeling when your supply of gum suddenly disappears sometime soon," the Geek answered, darkly.

"Is tat a threat, brainy?" asked Taylor, eyes glowing.

"No," Polly answered innocently, then muttered, "It's a promise."

Luckily for Polly, the last statement was drowned out by the arrival of another girl; Alex; in the corridor ahead of them. Her eyes widened suddenly when they all snapped their heads to look at her. "Err… What are you doing here? I thought-"

"Not now, Alex," Kelly told her. "We're looking for the First Years. You seen them?"

"You mean the little ones?"

They all frowned. "Yes… the little ones," Kelly answered, the phrase tasting metallic in her mouth.

The girl nodded. "They snuck out the hole in the fence, near the trees."

"How?" demanded both Andrea and Chelsea.

Chelsea continued, "We have been trying for weeks to get out through there!" As though just realising she had an audience she stopped. 'What?" she asked. "The fence is like way too high and the only other way is a big dirt pit full of water."

Now, had the missing girls been Totties, that's as far as they would have got. However, fear of getting messy or ruining their nails weren't a part of any First Year's attitude.

"That's how they did it!" exclaimed Andrea. "The lucky gits. They're small enough to squeeze under the fence using that hole." She sounded annoyed by the idea that they could and she couldn't.

"What about Ace though?" inquired Polly. "How'd she get through?"

Alex opened her mouth as though to explain, but was interrupted by Kelly's much louder voice. "Bet she found another way around."

She must have found the other exit, Kelly realised. Bugger! She should have hidden it better. Now someone else had found the secret exit and the whole of the First Years might know about it too.

"Let's go then!" announced Andrea.

Alex watched them rush off, eyeing Kelly in particular, the explanation still on the tip of her tongue; 'The same way you do.'

* * *

As the group reached the fence, they saw the first of the long line of girls. Oddly, they weren't heading away from the school but towards them. Not only that, they looked depressed. The kicked puppy expressions, metaphorical tail between their legs; not the usual victorious war march Kelly had grown used to seeing. No banners flew, no claimed flags or signs, no weapons raised in triumph.

What nerved them most was the eerie silence. No war whoops, no cries, no yelling, not even casual loud conversation.

"What with them?" asked Andrea.

"Yeah," agreed Taylor. "'t's like they've come back from a funeral."

Alarmed, Kelly started counting the heads, ticking off a mental list of the names of the returned. She breathed easy when the last made it over the crest of the hill. All alive. All limbs accounted for.

Upon approaching the fence, the girls slowly crawled under the fence and walked past. The greeting party just watched silently, not quite understanding the peculiar sight. Kelly's face was stone, not wanting to encourage them or approve of their behaviour. Not one of them looked up at her when they passed. The little innocent faces, although false because of their shame of being caught, faced the humiliation of saying nothing, doing nothing.

They had been told off. First Years don't respond well to instructions or telling off. Couldn't care less what anyone said, unless they had their respect. Policeman, adults, teachers, none had any control over them. Not even one of their own could command the whole lot. The twins might try, but they couldn't maintain it for long. This wasn't their doing because they were among the reprimanded.

It was then the group sighted Ace who was following the First Years with hawk eyes and a very focused, determined face that bore a look. A look that said 'Go on, try me. I dare you,' and warned people to keep away. She'd come back and she'd brought the others back with her, Kelly noticed. Not just brought them back, but forced them to come, and, remarkably, they had obeyed.

"How'd she do tat?" Taylor breathed. "I can't even make 'em fetch ma lip-gloss."

The explanation was clear to the Head Girl. Taylor didn't have any power over them because they didn't respect her. Ace had the authority; it was all in her attitude and personality. Her body language expressed dominance and strength which the younger girls responded to.

But above all other reason, she commanded them because they let her.

* * *

Ace scaled the fence, slipped beneath the barbed wire and landed on the other side. Her acrobatics (Despite her lack of finesse) attracted glances from the twins, but they continued to scurry off. It was only when they'd gone that Ace caught sight of Kelly.

She doesn't look happy. Please don't kill me, Ace pleaded silently. It wasn't my fault. They made me. I couldn't help it. They had the flamethrowers – no, don't mention the flamethrowers, that won't help you.

She wasn't alone either. The other older girls were behind her, looking pretty strange. For example, the Chav, Taylor, was quiet. Quiet. Chavs are never quiet. And Polly, well her expression was one of shock, like a piece of grass had changed colour right in front of her. What was so surprising?

Kelly muttered something and, after a glare from Andrea and Taylor, Ace found herself alone with the Head Girl. Again. Seems to be happening a lot, each time more nerving than the last especially since this was, in her eyes, all her fault.

"It wasn't my fault!" Ace burst out, wanting to end this as fast as possible. "I swear, had I known what they were going to do, I would never have-"

"I know," Kelly interrupted.

"Huh?"

Ace's last glance saw she had her serious face on, with the faintest hint of an oncoming smirk.

* * *

The next day, entering the chaotic history classroom and dodging the odd projectile from a certain group located in the middle right of the room, Ace made for her usual desk. Just as she made to sit, she was interrupted by a cough, which she paid no more mind than a passing fly. Josey and her lot for sure, another attempt to snap at her.

Best to ignore it altogether since she wasn't armed (Knew she should have brought the Nitro to class with her), nor did she have any of the twins' smoke bombs left, having used them up to flush Josey and Co out of their planned standoff in the corridor (They take revenge pretty seriously here). The smoke bombs were a breeze to make, not quite as wicked as her Nitro (Nothing beat the adrenaline rush they sparked) but they were a nifty, harmless but effective little trick and managed to satisfy her cravings for action and excitement, if only for a short time.

Another slightly louder fake cough drifted across the room, and Ace felt her nerves drawing tight. A third arrived and her shackles rose. Control, she reminded herself. They're just annoying, not a threat. The pencil in her hand nearly snapped clear in half when the annoyance did not cease.

The cough was then followed up by a loud clearing of the throat when it was not acknowledged. A split second later, Ace had turned in her chair, a comeback primed on the tip of her tongue to lash at the persistent little bugger who was oh so determined that she would grant a few of her choice words. What she saw made her bite down hard on her own tongue to shut it up. Josey was having a very engaging conversation with her gang about the importance of choosing the right lip gloss. There might have been some potentially interesting pieces of information in her argument, but it escaped Ace for all the sounds in the world had been turned down. A remote control for the noises of the Universe had been pushed. The cries and screams faded to whisper volumes and fell to the floor before reaching her, weighing a ton each.

Time has a set speed. It cannot slow or quicken, only cruise along at its own pace. Doing so is beyond the control of any mortal, which should be nonsense for a person can travel backwards of forwards in time, then return to exactly the same point they had come from. Unless, Ace recalled, you were travelling at a speed faster than time itself. The moment she identified the individual who had tried (And succeeded) to catch her attention (And maybe share their cold) she truly believed that somehow she had obtained such a speed.

If bullets filled the air at that moment, she could have pushed them aside like curtain drapes. She could have crossed a massive lake without creating a single ripple, or walked across molten magma without a scold on her feet.

She frowned as her brain tried to register what he eyes where telling her, then raised her eyebrows to say 'Who, me?' She took the terribly slow motion that was repeated as an answer, and, with a slight intact of breath, slung her bag over a shoulder.

Such a speed had not made her invincible, for she knew she would be unable to defy gravity or anything like that although, she would have quite liked to be invisible. For after taking five steps, her burst of speed vanished, a bubble burst without warning. Sound assaulted her as time reclaimed its dominance over her. A second for her was the same length as everyone else, her exception no longer applied, and it shocked her how fast the world was moving and how slow she had become. A single breath felt like an hour, a step, a lifetime.

Until fifty years of Ace's time had passed, nobody noticed her. Then, as though sensing Ace's sudden disorientation, a dozen heads swang her way. One foot went in front of the other and, with her eye glued to her destination, she allowed the lasers of the now totally attentive gazes (and glares) to slide over her like water off a duck's back. Her thoughts shouldn't be concerned with them or what they thought, but they were. She couldn't move faster than time, but she had. She shouldn't be going to this destination, but she was. She shouldn't do what she'd been instructed, but she will.

Because when the most powerful girl in the school indicates a desk beside them and practically engraves your name on it with a look, you don't ignore them.


	21. Didn't Sign Up For This

**Chapter 20**

**Didn't Sign Up For This**

'_She became very worried about Kelly's humanity.'_

The room was deathly quiet when Ace claimed the offered chair. The tension in the air was so great that if it were a bowstring it would have snapped long ago. Attention, she could manage, but this? This was pure hell. This was the wrong kind of attention, the unwanted attention, the never-ending attention that only a group of teenagers could deliver in such a way to make someone want to crawl into a small dark corner out of sight and will themselves to cease to exist.

She wished she was elsewhere. The TARDIS in mid-flight as it rattled around as it travelled through the vortex, or some planet in the middle of nowhere hanging on to a rope as it dangled over a thousand foot crevice, or prehistoric Earth surrounded by giant hungry carnivores who think that she might be a tasty treat after all those scaly overgrown lizards. The current situation was just as deadly as the dinosaurs, and Ace swiftly decided that being in a cramped smelly dungeon with her hands and feet tied together without a single can of Nitro was preferable to sticking around here.

Her actions (forced as they were) challenged something sacred that should never ever (To the power of infinity and then add 42 just to be sure) be threatened by anyone who had any desire to preserve their own personal safety. It existed only in one kind of place across the globe and nothing could be more life-threatening for anyone under 20 than daring to defy it.

It was the wonderfully complicated world of high school hierarchy.

She knew it all too well. Nineteen eighty-three, her first day of high school at Greenford High. When you're the bottom of the food chain, you find out that you're an itty bitty fish in a massive ocean. You learn real quickly to stay away from the big fish that rule the school. The idea is straight forward: you leave them alone, and they might do the same to you. The success rate for such a tactic is abominable. It might have worked twenty years before Ace's time, but in the 1980's it was a lost cause so who knew how it'd go right here, right now.

She had never attempted it herself, and now was not the time to try. They're teenagers, a pack of wild aggressive felines that hiss and sure as hell they're not afraid to bite or claw anything that annoys them. But these girls were even more unpredictable and dangerous because these weren't ordinary girls. Elsewhere, if you tried to change things you'd face a potential beating, yelling in your face and perhaps the odd dose of humiliation. Here... Well, if she got out of this alive in a better state than Mr Baily she'd be ecstatic.

There are four very effective methods of self preservation that nearly every species of life Ace had met have; fighting, running, playing dead (More effective when you can pull it off convincingly, admittedly) and improvising. Her chances at the first and second weren't good, and the third wouldn't do a thing to help her. Naturally, after considering her options, she chose the last one.

Beside her, Ace's dictator did not drop her face of stone (That made Ace's insides turn to wriggling worms), and shot a fierce feline look to the whole room. All save one dropped their stares and returned to their own conversations. Unsurprisingly, it was Josey who held the indomitable pair of eyes of them in defiance.

Believing to have made a victory, she resumed her discussion in a loud controlling voice. "Now the freak and 'HG' have finished interrupting..."

Ace yearned to march right over there and throttle her. She'd show her who the real freak was with a solid punch to the face, and had little difficulty imaging herself doing just that. A hand landed on her shoulder firmly pushing her back onto the chair she had not realised she had been leaving. It was a struggle burying her anger and her throat burned as her fury slowly slid down like honey dripping from a spoon, agonisingly slowly.

"She really makes me an unstable piece of sweaty gelignite," Ace said quietly meaning every word.

"Pick your battles," she was quietly told.

Not much in terms of advice, Ace though darkly, particularly when you know how to turn the contents of your pencil case into a mini catapult to fling sharpened pencils over three meters away.

That moment could have forever been recalled for being one of the few times she actually listened to someone's advice and followed the suggestion. Could have been. Any praise she might have earned from the Professor for this was vaporised when Josey tested her boundaries again and took five steps too many.

"After all, she's not just a freak. Even freaks have standards. Not her. Runs herself ragged doing whatever she's told, doesn't she. Nothing more than the Head Girl pet."

Hackles rose. Mouth dried. Lungs were inflated by a sharp breath. Fingers twitched and curled up to form fists, nails digging into the palm of her hands threatening to puncture the surface of the skin and draw blood. Nothing seemed any more vital than shoving the dirtbag out of the window and seeing her guts splattered over the ground.

A semi-familiar urge coursed through her veins; the desire to hunt her enemy down and make them pay. She felt her control slipping, not over her rage but the instincts that once tried to overwhelm her. A battle cry echoed in her ears, _"The chase; to hunt in the morning and live until evening-"_

She was jerked back to humanity when the noise uncannily similar to the one used by the Cheetah people as a final warning sounded. Just a memory (a shared pack-memory or something maybe) but it was too loud, too realistic, and, with a jolt, Ace was acutely aware that it was human. She was purring, but she mustn't. No turning back if she changed. Sod the school and what anyone thought, if claws grew from her fingernails and she grew a coat of fur she would be dead, not to mention Josey. Drawn to the place of the hunt, she would swiftly die for it no longer existed. Even if she didn't travel there, without a sense of self she wouldn't be Ace anymore. Little more than an animal fuelled by the need to survive at any cost.

As the slowed milliseconds passed, she felt her throat was dry. Her voice box did not vibrate and made no sound. It wasn't her. Relief flooded into her, she was still human, not a bloodthirsty carnivore, then concern. If it was not her than who-? Her eyes found her nemesis. That would simplify all her problems to something that she was pretty good at doing; defeating aliens and saving the world. If Josey had somehow been possessed by the Cheetah Virus it would be so much easier to deal with. It would serve her right too.

She choked on her own poison when she noticed the deep undertone growl was rumbling nearby. So close in fact that it vibrated through the wood on the desk. Ace was startled to find that it was the girl beside her who was staring intensely at Josey as though lasers would appear and vaporise her. Nothing in the whole Universe could have been bribed her into wishing herself into her enemy's position. This wasn't the angry look the Head Girl had put on display in the dorm on Ace's second day, nor was it the one she wore when she discovered that she'd been followed. They had been different, just expressions of disapproval. This was the real deal, a real full throttled warning.

She became very worried about Kelly's humanity. She could turn more cheetah than the cheetah people, and the black holes she had for eyes showed nothing more than a reflection of whatever peered into them.

The strangest thing happened to Josey. Her entire manner changed instantly from dominating and aggressive to subdued, as though she was a child shrinking away from a reprimanding adult. She stiffened like a bullet had skimmed past her head. Scared wasn't the word but terrified wasn't far of it.

It would take the most oblivious of people not to notice the severity of this warning. The consequences someone might face for ignoring a pointed notice such as this were extreme. Ace could tell just by the suddenly cold atmosphere of silence that blanketed the class.

* * *

Another occupant of the room watched the exchange carefully. By their assessment, the nonverbal communication was a warning and an exhibition of the power of their position as pack leader. It was clear who the alpha was in this situation. The other was a power-hungry member of the pack, but not a very determined one at that for the threatening member immediately backed off after hearing that they had stepped too far.

The challenger stood down, though it was predicted that the actions would be repeated in the future.

Their initial assessment had been right. Humans were just like animals. Primitive, arrogant and aggressive; exactly the words to go in the report.

* * *

Ace later found herself in a tight spot. The response her class had given to her sitting beside their matriarch had been less than encouraging. However, despite how reluctant and uncomfortable she felt (not to mention a tad of concern over her safety if they decided to hate her) about doing it again, she was aware that any say she might have had in the matter had been snatched away. There simply wasn't any other option now. Sitting alone wasn't her choice anymore because Josey was sure to see that as the result of her rebellion. If she saw it as a success, she would be likely to repeat it. So, really, she had no choice but to keep annoying the Chav.

Why was it that every time she managed to take half a step in the right direction she was shoved back two? She really had to have a word with Kelly about this constant use of her as either bait or a playing card.

Ace was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't really notice she was in the corridor until she'd bumped into someone and they shouted at her.

"Oi! Watch it!"

"Sorry," Ace quickly apologized, identifying the aggressor: Chav, brown hair past the shoulder, constantly chewing gum, semi-permanent sneer, not foe but not really a friend either. Annoying a Chav (particularly this one) was the last thing she needed (She wears fake nails, and Ace guessed they could scratch hard).

She kept walking along the corridor, trying to ignore the same girl's cries again. "'ey! You! 'ook at me!"

Ace mumbled under her breath, pretending not to hear, and continued walking until a massive ball of paper struck the back of her head. Right. That's it. This girl wanted her attention, well she had it now.

"What?" she demanded.

Said girl (Taylor, Ace suddenly remembered) gave no sign of being daunted or threatened by Ace's fiery pupils. She fought through the crowd and eyed her up and down inspecting her like she was an expensive product she was considering stealing.

"Could look eighteen, couldn't cha?"

"Eh?"Ace frowned feeling off balance. The question hadn't been aggressive or Chav like. It sounded... well, like a normal person. But that couldn't be right. Must be hearing things. Reassured by this explanation, Ace found she could cope. Then the Chav was nodding and looked deep in thought. A Chav, deep in thought. One word; wow.

"Ya could. Ya could, couldn't cha?"

Ace blinked and chose to pluck the oddity out by the roots; "What are you bogging on about?"

Taylor hesitated for about a second, taking a deep breath, processing her thoughts. "Lose jacket, blouse, skirt, hair out, lip gloss, mascara..." She pointed from one thing to anyone, pulling words from out of nowhere in one long, almost meaningless blur. "Can ya drive?"

"What?" Ace blinked at her then the question registered. Oh, could she drive? Well...

To be completely and utterly honest, being under 17 in a town in the middle of nowhere made it extremely difficult to find someone to teach you to drive, even in the 1980's. The most effective way was to just observe what drivers did, or have an older friend with a lot of guts. She had a few friends, but she wasn't the most, how should she put it, willing to listen and best follower of instructions. That and the time storm had something to do with her lack of driving abilities.

"I-" Ace began slowly but Taylor cut her off.

"It's 'ettled then. Tomorrow, six thirty in the garage." With that she dashed off with a spring in her step, leaving Ace to wonder what on Earth had she just been dragged into.

* * *

About an hour or so later, Ace encountered Kelly in the dorm. Something about the way she stood hinted that she had been standing there for quite a while. Waiting for her maybe, but that was stupid as Kelly wouldn't stand there for ages just to see her, right? Sure, everyone except Josey had stopped harassing her and left her alone but that didn't make her friends with everyone.

"Taylor seemed happy about something," Kelly commented.

"Yeah, she was," Ace agreed, quickly picking up the subtle hints that Kelly either seen or heard the whole thing earlier. "No idea why. She just ran up to me out of the blue and starting going on about stuff at a hundred miles an hour. Then she tells me to meet her in the garage tomorrow."

Exactly what had revealed Kelly's knowledge (And possibly, her hand) in the matter was hard to say. Could have had something to do with the look she had.

What look, you ask?

Kelly's eyes, car fog lights that unexpectedly clicked on and shone at potentially eye-damaging brightness, beamed as she grinned, the tips of her lips holding up a banner that read 'Oh, I know exactly what's happened', the personification of mischief, the metaphorical cat that got the cream liking its paw with a smirk.

That look.

"That would be it," Kelly said, sounding a little smug.

However, Kelly is like stone, motionless stone, hard stone. Stone cannot be 'smug', so neither could she.

Ace shrugged and, after briefly searching her mattress for traps, lay down on her stomach to watch her. "I don't get it. What's going on?"

She didn't think she'd get an honest, straight to the point answer, but that was what she got.

"Tomorrow we're going into town. Me, Taylor, Chelsea, Chloe and Andrea, and Taylor got stuck with the driving."

Ok, good for you, thought Ace. But... "What does that have to do with me?"

"The driver's not allowed to drink, see? Drunk driver, no way home. So whoever's picked to be the driver hates it, because they can't do anything."

"Sounds like a great job," Ace commented. Sitting in a pub or whatever and just watching, now that was dull.

"It is, isn't it?"

Why are her eyes twinkling?

"Taylor kept whinging about being stuck with it, so I told her, "Find another driver, or you're stuck with it." There aren't many people here who can drive and look the age."

It was then Ace recalled Taylor's muttering about looking eighteen. A bad feeling started to sink in, and Kelly noticed.

"I'm guessing she picked you."

"She didn't say that I was gonna... Argh!" Ace complained, smacking her palm into her forehead then proceeding to face plant into her pillow. "Why do I always get roped into these things?" she mumbled.

"Because," Kelly prodded her slumped shoulder, "people love to wind you up."

"Mmmph?" Had she heard that right? She raised her head to look up. "Really? No. Can't be. Must be something else."

Ace blinked. Was that...? No, couldn't have been. Trick of the light, figment of her imagination. Kelly did not smile, especially not at one of her jokes. That was as likely as the Professor suddenly becoming obsessed with explosives (Wishful thinking and amazing concept, but sadly impossible).

"I am really going to have to do something about it, whatever it is," she finished.

Kelly turned to walk off. "You'll have plenty of time to think about it while on bodyguard and lookout duty."

Her jaw hit the floor. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Hang about! No one said anything about being a bodyguard!"

The other girl shrugged. "The driver has to keep an eye out for the Police, security guards, whatever might get us into trouble, including ourselves."

Ace did not like the pleased way she said that. "Singlehandedly deal with both you lot and the Police? You must be dreaming!"

"Not 'my lot'."

There was a strong defensive (or was it protective?) tone in her voice. Their eyes locked, as though engaging in a contest of wills to see who'd back down first. Ace saw into the depths of Kelly's pupils. Not empty pits like she'd thought, but layers of shadow blending into whirls of darkness. And then, a light, a speck, just a dot really. As she maintained contact, the dot grew slightly. A defence mechanism activated and turned the spot into a reflective surface that served as a mirror, intending to psyche people too close away.

Ace found she was staring into a mixture of Kelly and herself. She saw that she was not the only one who kept people out. Kelly bore her own shields, uncannily like her own, and words of warning had been painted on them in the blood of her previous opponents (Judging by the colour, they had been numerous but rapidly decreasing in number), daring others to try and force their way in (And few had the guts to do so anymore. So that said a lot about her victories). She could see her own brown eyes in Kelly's and it felt... unusual. It was like there was a ping pong ball bouncing between her shields and Kelly's.

Bounce, bounce, bounce. Ace, Kelly, Ace, Kelly, Ace, Kelly. Back and forth, faster and faster, harder and harder...

Then Kelly blinked and turned away. The ball fell to the ground as though shot by a missile and fell in itty bitty pieces.

As though unaware of the whole thing, Kelly continued, "You've forgotten the Posh Totties. Keeping them under lock and key, I really don't envy you."

Not even sprouting antennas from her head could have made Ace's eyes bulge that much. Forget the battle of wills, this was shocking.

"With them?" Her brains felt loose when she shook her head. "Uh uh! There's no way I-"

Taylor appeared in the dorm and, understandably, gulped as two laser pointer eyes aimed at her. She turned right around and hurriedly bolted, nearly tripping over a First Year as she was pursued.

"I am so going to get you, Taylor!"


	22. Scarves & Some Seriously Skilled Driving

**Author's Note: One of my favourite chapters that I've written so far, and it's here for you to read. I've been going over it again and again to check it's really ready(More times than other other chapter, so I hope there aren't any typos in it. Gee that'd be embarrassing!).**

**I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writting and submitting it. **

**Chapter 21**

**Scarves and Some Seriously Skilled Driving**

'_Act like you're a normal eighteen year old who hasn't touched a drop of alcohol and are driving your mates home. Piece of cake.'_

If Chelsea said one more word about that fashion icon or one of her multiple ex-boyfriends (That she may or may not have actually told them the relationship was over) Ace would not be held responsible for her actions. Unfortunately she was squished between four other girls in the back seat of a van that was uncomfortable for three people, almost unbearable for four people. With five people, Ace felt she was in the same situation as tinned sardines, only she was still alive, for the moment. Why had Peaches needed to come? Another to fit in the cramped minivan, another two sets of limbs, another mouth yack, yack, yacking in her deafened ears.

Oh, Taylor was going to die after this was over. Little did she know that her train of thought was shared by the other occupant trapped with the Posh Totties; Andrea. The Chav must have rigged the coin toss to ensure she won the passenger seat. Of course, Kelly made it look and sound completely normal, all nice and comfortable behind the wheel. She didn't seem the least distracted by the constant babble of conversation erupting from the chatterboxes.

"… for you know he always thought I-"

"He didn't!"

"He did! I couldn't believe it myself. And so, he thought that I-"

"Hope you're watching so you know the way back," Kelly shouted over the chatter.

"Dunno if I'll get that far," was the honest reply.

"You'll be fine."

Something that was really bothering her rolled off her tongue, "What if the cops pull us over?"

"Lie," was the simple answer.

Only if it was that easy in reality.

"I haven't got any I. D."

A plastic driver's license was pressed into her palm. The image of a brunette with hair past her shoulder stared blankly back at her.

"That's not me."

Kelly took it and looked from it to her, comparing the two, shrugged then passed it back. "Close enough."

Um… No it's not. I don't look anything like that. It was the Professor and the U.N.I.T passes all over again! If that was anything to go by, they'd get pulled over five minutes after she set off.

"I don't have a fringe like that."

Taylor reached for the glove box as Kelly offered, "We can fix that."

"No, no, it's fine," Ace told her quickly, spotting the rather sharp looking scissors while Kelly gave that knowing smirk. She'd already been threatened by them by Taylor, saying she didn't look quite old enough. Least Chelsea had let it go; only to attack her with a curling wand, then complaining that the curls weren't even enough when Ace escaped.

If she found herself trapped in the Totty wardrobe she'd make use of that conveniently placed drainpipe out the window once more.

She'd thought that 1883 Victorian Perivale dress was bad until her encounter with the Posh Totty's dress style. Thank God for the Chav's resentment and power over the clueless trio, otherwise she'd be all pretty and pink and frilly. Avoiding her reflection in the mirror was a fruitless battle, because she knew exactly what Taylor looked like, and, since she was borrowing (Albeit forcibly) her clothes she'd look very similar. Needless to say, the bright colours and sparkly accessories were not her style.

Least she had been able to pick out earrings; narrow light gold raindrops, instead of massive and heavy hoops a hamster could leap through. Oh, and she'd picked the bag. Brown leather handbag, not one of those purse-sized things, a proper one that could actually hold stuff. The contents? Now that's a secret, but it would blow your mind.

"-And you know that guy-"

"The one from that movie?"

"Yes, him."

"The one-"

"With the side flick, yes."

They gaped and stared at her.

"He gave me an autograph!" Chelsea announced.

The trio squealed and clapped so energetically you would have thought she'd won the lottery.

Someone, save me, pleaded Ace desperately.

* * *

The minivan had barely stopped when the occupants in the back fell out onto the concrete, some with more dignity than others. No prizes for guessing who was the least dignified.

At first glance, you might have thought they'd taken a wrong turn because the exterior of the venue hardly said 'Alcohol and partying'. 'Dark and Not Quite Legal' more like. Entry itself was much the same; down a dark alleyway, and to a boarded up door.

A gruesome face stared at the group through a slot in said door, and spat, "Whatcha want?" to which Kelly responded by reaching into her small black handbag. The stretched, pale, almost transparent face took one glance at Ace with dull cloudy eyes. She glared back. Nasty person, she could just tell. She didn't like them one bit.

Kelly found whatever she was looking for and waved it like a flag. Two beady eyes ceased squinting and widened. The bull caught sight of the object, but did not charge. The slot closed over, locks clicked, door opened and a skinny weasel of a figure (Like Flash, but even less handsome. And for the record, Flash was not handsome) loomed in the shadows, letting them pass.

The Posh Totty trio trotted past with terrific speed in incredibly tall heels, as Andrea, Taylor and Ace followed, Kelly bringing up the rear. Bright multicoloured lights flickered beneath a closed door ahead, and the throb of a heavy base drum wandered through the passageway, keeping the beat of some unknown tune. Ace could only imagine how loud it would be in there.

Just before the door, Kelly pulled her aside, as the others went through. "Three hours. Then you get them out," she instructed after they'd disappeared through the doorway and into potential chaos. "Give about five minutes warning to everyone but the Totties. You'll have to pull them out; by the hair, bribery, threats, whatever you need to."

The prospect of tearing them away from something (Or, ahem, someone) was as appealing as being covered in sewage. As the invisible muck started to sink in, she realised this was it. It's really happening. There was no denying it or turning back now. It was too late. She was in.

"What about you?" Stupid question, Ace realised after the disapproving look shoved her way. "Never mind. Forget I asked."

Kelly nodded ever so slightly. Phew! Saved yourself there, Ace.

"Keys." They were handed over. "You've got I.D, but you won't need it here. One glass of vodka, wine, beer, whatever, that's it. If I catch you drunk, you'll be wishing for a killer hangover so you'll forget it. Rest assured, I won't."

No idle threat. Surprising, she didn't gulp like she thought she would as she answered, "Gotcha."

"One more thing, if anyone gives you grief, use this."

The girl suddenly dropped something. Luckily it wasn't something heavy. It kind of floated, hung in the air like a parachute before being gently falling to rest over the keys. Unlike before, this time Ace caught a good look at it. At first, she only noticed it was a piece of material, the different shades impossible to accurately name in the darkness. One shade was bright, either white or yellow, the other much darker. And there was a small hard thing that kept the ends together. Not a flag, like she'd thought before, but a scarf.

Before she could ask what exactly to do with the gift, the door leading to the noise opened and shut.

Her own hand resting on the door knob, she tried counting slowly to calm her heart. Didn't work, so she tried to work herself up. Right. You ready for this, Ace?

No, her straight to the point inner voice informed her.

But she was so doing it anyway.

Sigh. Here we go. And the door opened to unleash the madness.

* * *

"I swear I've like met you before somewhere… ya know."

Snort. Not bloody likely unless you're actually pretty decent looking for your early thirties.

But, be polite. Just because his breath smells like a rat that's been dead for two weeks, doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings. It just means he doesn't care about his hygiene.

"Don't think so," she said, shortly.

"Really?" He gazed at her, slightly too openly for someone with an active mind. "Coz I was sure... So... You hang here much?"

"As much as you I suppose."

Perfect opportunity to slip away, so she did, leaving the random guy clueless. She got on with guys, problem was that guys don't want to chat after nearly drowning in five glasses of heavy beer and found anything with legs attractive. Even the table. She even felt sorry for it. Imagine how many times it had been mistaken for something else.

Taylor was drinking alone; well, alone if you don't count the several empty bottles of bubbly 'feel-goodness' that gathered nearby (which Ace didn't). Andrea was playing darts. Her accuracy suggested she had regular practise that may or may not have involved live moving targets (Now, if Taylor just walked right in front of the board, she'd surely get the bullseye…). Chelsea, Chloe and Peaches were over at a table playing some kind of card game for cash. Every few minutes, the pile of money would grow then disappear. The mystery deepened when Ace spotted Chloe collecting the occasional coin or note from an unsuspecting twenty five year old who's open mouth and drool patch down his shirt said that he was simply in heaven for an angel was looking at him (Whilst picking his pockets). Hmmm... Maybe she had underestimated their intelligence.

"Oh! I win! I got a seven!" cried Chelsea waving the eight of clubs in the air.

Maybe not then.

The night was draining. Hard to keep an eye on so many people when they're all over the place. It was a relief not to keep looking for Kelly, but she did catch the occasional glance of her. These glances were frequent enough for a short while to make Ace peeved. Didn't she trust her? Shortly after needing to pull Taylor away from yet another verbal spit with someone about the way her accessories clashed with her shoes, Ace corrected herself. Kelly was just making sure things were ok, ensuring she was handling things. Which she was, so far, barely.

She'd survived this long. It wasn't so much the fact that they'd been here ages. That was one of many factors, the others being observing, constantly monitoring, restricted amount of beverage and keeping them from causing problems or preventing problems happening to them. Admittedly, they didn't really need constant surveillance, but Ace couldn't help but think that one minute of paying no attention could result in something nasty. Kelly's threat might have played a role too, just a little.

Surely it was nearly time to leave. They'd arrived around seven so they'd be leaving about ten to ten thirty. It was currently 9:50 so forty minutes at most. Another forty minutes and it'd be all over. Then it was simply a twenty minute drive in the dark back to a place whose location Ace had no idea about. The TARDIS didn't exactly follow the road so it would be as amazing as finding a hundred quid on the sidewalk in broad daylight if she didn't take a single wrong turn. Taylor and Andrea wouldn't be any help. They were… let's say just a little out of it. And as the Posh Totties didn't know left from right (even when they held their hands up to see which one made an 'L') asking them for directions was a sure way of getting lost.

A loud booming voice bellowed, "Whoa! I spy a hottie!"

Great. Yet another guy with too much bravado, pumped up by too much alcohol that needs a good kick between the legs. God hope this 'hottie' thought just as she did and delivered it.

The guy in question was maybe twenty-two. Not especially tall but his tough looking tattoos tried to make up for that. He should go ask for his money back.

Drink in hand (Lemonade, thanks for asking), she watched him push through a dozen people. Sipping through the straw, she concluded that this bone head was an idiot. Drink's fizzy bubbles itching her nose, she turned away to choke on her drink.

Drink nearly toppled over when the vacant stool beside hers no longer was so.

"Hi ya, babe."

Why couldn't he be like everyone else and whine over the picturesque Posh Totties? Or be attracted to the girls who just giggled the whole time because the fruity punch stuff had jumbled their brain in a mixer to form soup? No. This guy had gone for her, probably for a dare or something. Or maybe he legitimately thought he had a shot.

Which he didn't.

"Get lost, bone head."

"Oh, but come on. I kinda like it right here." To express his point, he stretched his ape-like arms around her shoulder. He had breached her protective bubble. Bad move.

She shoved him away from her and he stumbled. "You deaf or what?" demanded Ace, rising from her stool, her hands clenching into fists. He'd picked the wrong girl to mess with. "I said get lost. Or," she threatened, "stick around and get your teeth knocked out!"

He backed off a tiny bit (mainly due to the shove). "Whoa there, kitty. I just wanna talk."

"Yeah right."

The kitty remark triggered the memory of the scarf thing she'd stashed in the bag. Kelly had said to use it if she needed it. She had no idea how it worked, but, hey, if it didn't work, she had another slightly more dramatic (Not to mention loud) way of dealing with him. She had only pulled half of it out before the dude caught sight of it. Bone head frowned for about three seconds, brain ticking over like an almost broken clock. Suddenly he jerked away, pretty much falling over his own feet as if stung, body reeling as though the image of the material had just been burned onto his eyelids.

"Shit! You're one of them?" he trembled, suddenly very sober. "Please, don't. I'm going. I'm gone. Poof! I was never here."

And then he pelted head first out the door muttering, "Shit," repeatedly under his breath.

Wow. That was weird.

And the scarf had actually worked! How? He'd seen it then looked at her like she was, well, a monster or something. No, worse. He thought she was 'one of them', as that was like being a demon. Who was 'them'? And why did being associated with 'them' make his opinion of her change so radically?

The door reopened as she watched. No, it wasn't bone head. He was long gone. The entrant didn't look much but carried themselves differently; straight back, solid build, not slouched, firm expression, determined walk. Official of some kind, not one of this place's security guards. Bad guy. He was trouble, and was guarding the only exit.

They needed to get out of there, now.

Keeping her movements natural, Ace crept up behind Andrea, careful to not get herself impaled by the flying sharp metal objects by startling her. "Bad guy. Maybe Police. Two minutes. You'll know when." The girl tossed another dart, as though she hadn't heard a word. Her fingers were tenser though, and that was all Ace needed to see her message had been received.

Next up was Taylor, hiccupping in the corner, to which she repeated the message, adding "And you better be gone, else I'll leave you here."

"'llright! I hear ya."

'Oh, and thanks for the job." Sarcasm dripped off her tongue.

"'ny time."

Trusting the Totties would do what any freaked out person would do, she searched for Kelly, with no luck. She'd just have to trust she'd show up.

Alright. Now, for the best bit of the whole night. This place was a bit dull for her. She'll soon change that. Time to blow the roof.

Managing to duck down behind the bar, her handbag opened much more. Reaching inside she pulled out her little friend, and twisted its top. Now, her normal Nitro 9 cans were quite large. No way could they have fit in there. But this batch was different. She had yet to test how the chemicals reacted in a smaller container. Perfect chance to try.

After setting the timer and bowling it along the floor away from people, she casually moved to the opposite side of the room. Five, four, three-

Shaaa booooommm!

"Wicked," Ace breathed. It makes an even bigger sound!

She was the only one to really appreciate it. Screams. Chaos. One incredibly confused Policeman suddenly found himself surrounded by incredibly aware, and annoyed people. They caught sight of him, naming him the culprit. During the resulting attack, Taylor and Andrea disappeared. The Posh Totties did as predicted; panic; and bolted out the door, with Ace herding the spooked sheep outside.

They piled inside the minivan, not caring about being squished, or who they were next to while Ace kept an eye out for Kelly. People were starting to stream out of the night club, but none of them were her.

"Home, McKenizie."

Crikes! She hated it when she snuck up on her.

Less than a minute later, they took off, the van making a bit of an awful noise. Having no idea what to do about it, she was saved when someone else reached forward and pulled the gearshift into the right gear, giving her an odd stare. Twenty years. It wasn't her fault.

"Left, then the second right after the bridge," Kelly told her, and, gratefully, Ace followed the instructions.

She thought they were doing well (Well enough for someone who was driving a vehicle with crazy knobs and lights everywhere) until she heard a voice in the back that was directed at her. "Uh, Ace?"

"What?" she asked, eyes glued to the front.

Andrea paused, listening to something. "You hear that?"

A low mournful wail in the background was growing louder. Damn! More cops! And she thought things had just started getting better.

She tried to keep her voice calm and steady. "Are they after us?"

The next ten seconds waiting for an answer were excruciating.

"Hard to say, but they're close enough."

She took a deep breath as she remembered the back of the van had a giant window. "Two of you need to duck down. If they catch sight of five heads where only three should be-"

She was interrupted by Taylor. "Think they 'ave."

She tore her eyes away from the road to see. Police, three cars back, lights flashing red and blue as she watched. They'd been seen.

Gorden Bennet's big brown moustache, they were in trouble!

"Ace…" Kelly warned her of the car in front of them.

Spinning the wheel, to avoid the collision, she pulled her eyes back on the front and changed lanes, trying to think of something really quick. "Who's on the end? Left side."

"Me and the Grim Reaper," Taylor answered, not sounding very pleased.

"Hey! I'm not-"

"Shut it!" Ace yelled and they did. No doubt because of the sudden change of tone of their driver. And anyone should know better than to annoy the driver while still inside the car, particularly an unpredictable one. "Listen here! We're gonna have to stop. When we do, you two get low and go like stink, got it?"

"Stink?" Chelsea, having paid no attention to the conversation, immediately pulled her hand to pinch her nose to block it out. "Eew!"

Ace ignored her. "Just do it or we'll all end up in a concrete cell, and I don't wanna be stuck with the Totties, do you?"

Silence, then, "Fine."

* * *

The Policeman was bald, beefy and had a beard. A short beard and it was greying. He gave off the 'Tough Policeman' feeling, but even a twenty year old in that uniform would have made Ace skittish. She was, after all, only sixteen driving a minivan with a glass of vodka swirling away in her gut. That broke enough laws beside the fake I.D and the cans of explosives that were concealed in the handbag at her feet. So maybe there was a justified reason to feel nervous.

She couldn't look nervous though. It wouldn't help them get out of this. She had to act like this was normal. Come on Ace, isn't this the most normal thing you've done recently? True, she decided, and that made things slightly better.

Act like you're a normal eighteen year old who hasn't touched a drop of alcohol and are driving your mates home. Piece of cake. Pretending wasn't hard when you omitted some of the details. They hadn't been travelling too fast (well, not that fast). She wasn't drunk (The Posh Totties might be but they're all flirty and giggly sober anyway). They hadn't broken any rules (Not any major ones anyway). In hindsight, maybe she shouldn't have sent the two least sober occupants of the car out on their own. Oh well. They'd live.

Ace was actually fairly confident she could pull this off until he asked to see her licence.

Trying not to look as nerved as she felt, she pulled it out. Trying to act natural (and stop her hand from shaking slightly of its own accord) she waited as he examined it. Any second he'll notice that she looks nothing like the girl in the photo. Then, they were stuck. Like a bug in a spider web.

Or were they...?

"Excuse me, miss, but you're gonna have to come with me," the man announced, sounding regretful (But he was probably faking that. Sounding convincing had to part of the job description).

She sighed. As predicted. The trio in the back was silent (he wasn't hot enough to pay any attention to, and besides, he was like way too old and beneath their standards, even for the purposes of a distraction to get them out of this mess). Ace caught sight of Andrea and Taylor peering through the bushes (Well, Taylor. Andrea was kind of occupied, being sick over the prickle bush nearby), eyes wide, lost as to what to do. Kelly's face, as usual, was unreadable, but if her flexing fingers were anything to judge by, she was either thinking extremely hard, or contemplating strangling the clueless policeman.

"Really? Do I have to?" Ace asked, trying to think of another way out of this.

He looked a tad sympathetic. "I'm afraid you must."

Ace bit her lip. She couldn't risk being caught. Imagine if they found her criminal record and the report about her probation and matched the pictures. They'd take forever trying to decipher and understand how she was the same as the girl from 1983. Oh, and imagine the embarrassment of having wait for the Professor to come and help her out. Now that was just NOT going to happen!

"Bog off!"

He blinked. Peaches, Chloe and Chelsea gasped and looked up in confusion. Kelly's left eyebrow rose.

His frown deepened. "Hang on here-"

"Yes. He's right." She turned to the back seat to face the bewildered Totties. "If I were you guys, I would."

Kelly took the hint and tugged on her own seatbelt, which Chelsea caught on to, starting a chain reaction in the back.

"If you do not leave this vehicle right now, I'll charge you with resisting arrest," warned the officer.

She shrugged. "Well, if that's how you're gonna be..."

She opened the driver's door slowly. Then a cylinder-shaped metal canister dropped out. It clinked on the asphalt once, twice, three times, then landed at his feet. He bent down, having no idea what it was. A small cap acting as a stopper burst and the man backed off, covering his face with his large steak sized hands. Luckily for him, this one was not an explosive, but a larger model of the smoke bombs. She owed the materials to the twins, but this was her own creation. The contents created a thick red tinged smokescreen that resembled a dust cloud rapidly shrouded the van from the view of the other occupant of the police car.

Kelly responded swiftly, recovering from the initial shock. "Peaches, get that door open!"

Startled into action by the urgency in the voice, she and Chloe dragged it open as two shadows emerged from the bushes, coughing and spluttering, and stumbled into the van.

"What was that?" Andrea asked waving her arms about trying to waft the smoke away from her.

"Not now. Ask later!" ordered Kelly.

The door shut and Ace hit the accelerator. Kelly turned to face the front to find the smoke covered the windscreen, blocking out all but the hazy outlines of large shapes they were speeding towards.

"You're driving blind?" she cried, sounding somewhere between horrified and flabbergasted.

Cue panic and shouts of terror in the back.

"Press the button!" Taylor yelled, fighting off Chloe who was clinging to her.

"What button? There's heaps!" Ace exclaimed.

The Posh Totties continued to shriek in sheer loss of sanity. Suddenly they stopped to take a deep breath, exchanging a look. Five seconds they broke into chorus; "Oh, My God!"

"Now's not the time!" Kelly told them, pressing buttons frantically.

"We're gonna dieee!" Chelsea screamed.

"Shut up, Chelsea!" everyone cried.

Windscreen wipers groaned as they pushed through the muck plastered to the glass. The moment one patch made the road visible, Ace swerved to the left, having crossed the centre line, Andrea moaning loudly in the back.

"Right, Ace, right!" Kelly instructed, having recaptured her bearings.

Ace spun the wheel the other way, the wheels squealing in protest, not to mention the girls in the back seat.

"Aaaaahhhhh!"

"Eeeeeee!"

"Waaaaa!"

"Mmmmyyyyy naaaiill!"

"Urrrrggggggg…"

"Don't ya dare be sick on me, zombie!"

"I'm not a zom-"

"Taking a shortcut!" Ace announced and ploughed through someone's front lawn, taking the wooden fence out with her. She then narrowly avoided crashing into a rather large tree that popped out of nowhere with another tight corner.

"Ohhhhhhh..."

Kelly turned in her seat to see what all the moaning was about. It took her two seconds to figure it out.

"Door! Open it!"

Too late.

Kelly crinkled her nose and immediately looked away, clutching it tight with her hand while bracing herself against the dashboard with the other.

"Ewwwwwww!"

"That's just... Yuck!"

"My shoes!"

"Shut up, Chelsea!"

"But they're covered in-"

"Shut up, Chelsea! We don't want to know!"

* * *

No sooner had Ace driven the van up the driveway, did Taylor pounce. "Now, what was that?"

"What was what?" Ace asked, confused as everyone else fell out of the van.

"Ground! Solid ground!" Andrea kissed the ground, then, suddenly dizzy and nauseous, emptied the last remains of dinner onto the lawn.

"You're cleaning that up," Kelly told her, carefully stepping past.

Ace got out of the van and walked over. Luckily, no one else had fallen to the ground. That meant their legs weren't broken and they could walk. What a relief!

"What was that wup wup, shazam!" Taylor replied, repulsed by the smell of Andrea's puke.

"Eh?"

She seemed to be speaking an alien dialect, completely untranslatable mush. She was also expecting an answer, but Ace didn't know what the question was. 'Wup wup, shazam' meant what exactly?

"The big bang," Kelly translated.

Oh. That. Why hadn't she said so?

"That," Ace explained, "was the result of a very dangerous chemical reaction occurring in a tight space."

Taylor looked at her, her face identical to a sheet of paper; white, slightly creased and blank. "Whatcha say?"

"I said it was a mixture of unstable compounds trapped in a solid metal container."

"Eh?" asked everyone, looking at her oddly.

"A chemical reaction, you know, with gases and stuff," she tried again, with less enthusiasm.

"Eh?"

Ace sighed. Was this how the Geeks felt all the time, having to explain everything in simple language and terms? Because it was exhausting, and very dull.

"I made the can explode."

"Ahh," chorused the group and, satisfied with the explanation, moved on.

Well, except Chelsea who stood there looking perplexed. "I don't get it," she announced, sounding quite serious. "How does a can just explode?"

Andrea was no longer the only person groaning.

"Don't answer that," warned Taylor. "Really, don't."

"Uggghh," moaned Andrea again, still very pale.

Ace rolled her eyes at the prone semi-lifeless heap. "Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad. It was wicked!"

"Whatcha mean, 'not that bad'?" Taylor exclaimed. "You weren't next to the vampire the whole time!"

Said girl just groaned, glad to be alive.

She had a point. "True, but at least the brakes worked."

Not the right thing to say, Ace later reflected.

"Ya telling me there was a time when they didn't?" threatened the Chav.

Ace smiled, aware of how guilty she looked. "No…."

Taylor stormed off. The Posh Totties were long gone, shedding tears over Chelsea's ruined heels as they tore across the grounds to the safety of the showers.

"Some night, huh?" Ace met Kelly's eye, but the girl was occupied. Her head was twitched slightly towards one side, facing the shadows.

There was nothing to see, just the dark emptiness of the night. Very ordinary, boring, blank. Had it not been for Kelly's sudden attention, she wouldn't have looked twice at it. Something tingled, nagged at her. She peered into the shadows longer, detecting something. The more she searched for the source, the clearer its presence became. Humming, she could hear something vibrating, buzzing. Power cables? This far from the buildings?

The chance to investigate was stolen from her. A shrill whistle fractured the air, masking the hum. Ace turned, clutching her ears. What had possessed Kelly to do that?

Hearing another sound, she turned to see. Popping out of the ground like pixies from secret tunnels, the twins appeared; looking slightly like short aliens with green glowing night-vision goggles.

Ace was numb and distant as Kelly commanded, "Get Andrea to the dorm, won't you?" as though that had been part of her plan the whole time.

They nodded, all too willing to escape while they could. They peered over at Ace before doing so though, and she found herself jerking her head towards the school, and they scurried off, Andrea hobbling along between them.

After they disappeared over the hill, Kelly turned. "You enjoyed that," she said, referring to the minivan wild rollercoaster ride.

Ace briefly considered that she was accusing her of having too much fun in a crisis. Then remembered where she was and who she was with. Normal things don't apply. She raised her hand up a bit. "Guilty," she announced.

There was a cold breeze that whistled through the air as she answered, "Good," and disappeared.

Only when her head hit her pillow in the dorm, did Ace recall hearing that buzzing sound. Just for a second, she thought about it before exhaustion took over.


	23. Sleeptalking

**Author's Note: Yes, this chapter is shorter than the last. However, the next one is the LONGEST so far. But first, chapter 22.**

**Chapter 22**

**Sleep-talking, Nails ****and Secret Trips**

'"_Why are you snooping on me?"'_

"Polly," a voice called in the corridor.

Hearing her name, she looked up from her keyboard then mentally groaned recognising the voice. "What is it?" She quickly interrupts before the girl entering the room has a chance to answer. "If you're about to go on about Ace again nod so I can put earplugs in."

"But-" the girl began, possibly unaware of the slight whining tone she was putting on.

"Here we go again," Polly mumbles, searching for her earplugs.

"-doesn't it bother you that nothing about her makes sense?"

"No, it doesn't," she answered, shortly. However that tactic had failed to do any good previously so she tried the opposite. "Everybody else has gotten over it except you. You just won't give up trying to make sense of it. Explanation and anything predictable avoid her. Spend one minute with her and you'd figure that out but you keep avoiding her. Just because she's a tad different to what you were expecting doesn't mean that you have to know everything about her."

Polly was quite proud of that rant. Five long sentences in one breath. It might have given Taylor's motor mouth a run for its money.

The other girl's shoulders sagged in defeat. "But she's wrong," she said feebly.

"Oh, that's new," said Polly sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Tell me how."

"She doesn't talk right."

She turns to the table beside her and peels a post-it note off the desk. She examines it. "Nope, already got that," she answers, "as well as her out of date phrases, her fake payment account, her clothing and lack of current knowledge about basic politics. Anything else you want to add to the list?"

"I think she's a spy," the girl announced.

Polly blinked and couldn't help but smile broadly. The idea was hilarious. "Yeah, a real James Bond she'd be. I can so see that. 'Go an infiltrate that secret base.' She'd get there and go, 'Hmm, I could sneak inside and snoop around, or I could just blow it up and everyone's happy.' She'd be great."

"See!" she exclaimed, excited. "Even more evidence that she could be."

"I was joking Alex. You just don't get jokes, do you? Even if she was a spy, we would have found something when we looked her up."

It was a slight smudge on Polly's self-esteem that she hadn't found anything, but she had decided that the only explanation was that there never had been anything to find on the Internet.

"But we didn't. That could be because she's really top secret."

"How many sixteen year old girls do you know are spies?" asked Polly. "And 'Totally Spies' doesn't count because it's a TV show."

"They're seventeen anyway,' added a Geek who's ears had pricked up upon hearing 'spies'. "Except the yellow spy, Alex, who is, as you said, sixteen."

Both Polly and Alex chose to ignore both comments.

"But…" Alex tried again in vain.

"If you have to know everything about her, go ask her yourself," said Polly, ending the conversation by turning to her laptop to return to her work (Selling US missiles on the black market needed constant attention, and, although there were a dozen Geeks watching it, she wouldn't feel completely relaxed until she had checked it all herself).

Mumbling complaints along the lines of "She's still asleep", Alex left, passing Kelly at the door and gave her a grudging glance of acknowledgement. Kelly watched her closely but let her go. Sitting down on a bed next to Polly, she proceeded to paint her fingernails with the dark red nail polish she'd brought with her.

"What's up with her?" she asked the room.

Several Geeks shrugged, a few looking up for the first time in a while having missed the whole thing.

"Oh," Polly sighed, "just Ace this, Ace that. Keeps pestering me about the lack of stuff we've got on her like its money and she's Bursar."

"That persistent?" she asked, not batting an eyelid.

"Even more so," Polly replied shaking her head sadly. "I think she's obsessed with the mystery of it all. Keeps jumping from one crazy explanation to another."

"She doesn't still think that Ace is a mind-whipped clone, does she?"

"No, that was Celia, and she was only making fun of Alex."

Kelly's shoulders rose slightly in a shrug; it didn't concern her. Celia and Alex could come up with as many ideas as they liked, and even if one of them was true, they wouldn't know which one to believe. "So what is she saying this time?"

"She thinks she's a spy or something. All James Bond and deleted secret files and that."

Kelly's nail file fell from her hand to strike the floor with a metal 'ping'.

Polly looked up from the screen, confused. "Kelly?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you alright? You look…"

"I'm fine," she replied sounding completely, utterly normal, but behind that voice a brain was whirling frantically. The abrupt spike of activity would have baffled anyone looking at an MRI scan of her head at that second. It accelerated from zero to a hundred in four seconds.

Polly watched and waited a minute or so, but Kelly didn't say anything else, too busy thinking. It didn't hinder her ability to paint her nails bizarrely. "Are you going to pick that up?" she felt compelled to ask.

"In a minute."

Finishing her pinkie finger, she capped the polish bottle and picked it up. Fully composed, she stood and walked out the door as though nothing had happened. Which was what had appeared to happen, but had anyone with good eyes and fast thinking mind like Polly, they could deduct otherwise. However, Polly had resumed her surveillance of the deal and missed it. The onlooker would have noticed that she was distracted by something and was running on auto-pilot while she figured it out. The clue; Kelly's fingernails.

She'd only painted one hand.

* * *

"Ace?" mumbled a voice.

"…" Go away.

"Ace," pestered another.

Sigh. "What is it?"

Someone shushed her.

"Don't 'shush' me. Just go away."

"Fine."

Quiet. Ah, that's nice.

"Ace…"

Well that ruined it. "What?"

"Who's the Professor?"

"Uh?" She bolted upright and the blurred faces of the twins zoomed into view. She backed off, startled. "Whoa!"

"Shhh!"

"What are you doing?" demanded Ace in a whisper. "Lucky I don't sleep with a can of Nitro under my pillow or else we'd be blown to smithereens! You shouldn't wake people up like that!"

"We can't help it," said one, while the other continued, "You talk in your sleep."

She rubbed her eyes. "No I don't."

"Yeah you do. Listen." They clicked a button on a mobile phone in their hand and a quiet voice mumbled through the speakers.

"Ok, maybe I do," admitted Ace, "but not all the time." She yawned. "Why were you awake to hear me anyway? Do you have any idea what the time is?"

They rolled their eyes. "Do you?"

"Must be, what, four in the morning?"

"Try one."

One! That means… "I've only been asleep for an hour?"

"You missed breakfast-"

"-and its lunchtime so we figured you'd be hungry."

Lunch?

"We brought you a sandwich."

It was then that Ace noticed that the rest of the dorm was empty. The Geeks world clock read… 1:00pm? Ok, she'd slept in just a tad more than normal. Not really. She'd lost half a day in the 1800's. She had been up all night, so this wasn't much different. How had she managed to sleep through the others' waking up?

"Thanks…" she told them, taking the lunch. "Wait!" She then scrutinised it. "What have you done to it?"

Their cheery expressions were replaced with kicked puppy expressions faster than she could blink. "Nothing," they replied, sounding legit, which eased her suspicions only a tiny bit.

"Ok then." Something was up. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" they asked, innocent faces in place.

"Making me lunch, and recording me while I sleep?"

"We didn't record it."

"Not really."

"Not really?" Ace pressed sensing that there was more to the story.

They relented, "It was recorded on the cams first."

Ace figured the rest out, "And you just copied it."

They nodded.

"Why?" In fact, why would someone record people while they slept anyway?

They shrugged. "So who is this 'Professor'?"

Gee, you know. Just some alien guy I met.

"Nobody," Ace answered.

"A teacher or something from your old school?"

If you mean that he shows me the Universe, then yes.

"Yeah, something like that."

The pair frowned. "Then why were you talking about him?"

"I didn't mean to." That sounded a bit too defensive. Better cover that up quick before they notice. "I mean, can you control what you say when you're asleep?"

Turning the question back at them was a good tactic because they dropped the subject.

"Kelly wanted to talk to you."

Ace groaned inwardly. Oh no, what has she done now?

* * *

"Should I be worried that cameras record my every word and movement?" was the first thing that came to mind as she approached Kelly on the roof.

"Not unless you have something to hide," was the neutral reply.

"Yeah, I just have a ton of secrets and stuff I don't want you guys to know about so I'll talk to myself about them when no one but the cameras are around."

"Better stop doing it then."

Sometimes she was infuriatingly serious. Like now for instance.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Ace, foot tapping impatiently.

She was tired, slightly grumpy, and she'd missed lunch. The day wasn't turning out too good. Oh, and Kelly wanted to see her. And it's never for a good thing. Oh no, always had to be a bad thing. After the fight, on the roof after the Nitro exploded, the dorm war thing, after her encounter with Miss Fritton, the basement, then all those times being messenger girl. So really, the only thing left to figure out was what exactly she'd done.

"Did you ever unpack?"

Blink, double blink. Was that it? "What? Course I did."

"So how come your things are all piled up nice and neatly?"

"I just keep things organised, you know?" The words sounded hollow in her ears. It was hardly believable for the statement contradicted everything about her including her eating habits, dress sense and attitude. "Why? What's it to you?"

Kelly went silent. Never tells you anything unless she needs too. Typically Professor-ish. Keeps information all to herself, only spilling bits and pieces when she has to.

"And I just happened to find your bag in the third bush on the left along the driveway?"

She pulled Ace's backpack out from behind her and tossed it in front of her. Ace's eyes widened (Had Kelly forgotten that she kept Nitro in there?), then she dropped to the ground and rolled to the side, covering her ears.

When she heard nothing go 'boom' after thirty seconds (The maximum time a punctured can could last before exploding; she had tested it) she looked up at a slightly bemused Kelly.

"I did remember what happened last time," she responded to the unasked question. "You won't find any in there."

Ace breathed a sigh of relief but continued to glare at her.

"If that look's supposed to be menacing, I suggest you frown a little less and stare more."

"Why are you snooping on me?" Ace demanded.

"You tell me."

Ace sighed, giving in. More Professor-ness. 'Tell me where you think you went wrong,' instead of just telling her. She fought this often enough that even battling someone slightly less persistent felt like too much effort. And it wasn't like this was top secret stuff she was being asked to give.

"I'm 'different'. I don't 'blend'. You think I'm dangerous, or crazy, or both. Is that it?"

"No one knows anything about you."

"Like you said, I've got nothing to hide. Just another odd person in the world. For every person, there's an odd one. That's how numbers work. One odd, then one even. 'Why am I being so secretive?' I don't like to talk about some stuff. Have a problem with it, deal with it yourself."

Of all the responses she could have received, this would have to the most amusingly crazy one she'd never think of; "You're a spy."

She wore the robot straight faced, blank expression that was pretty much her way of telling everyone, 'I'm being very serious, don't joke about here.' Ace's nose twitched like she had incredibly bad hay fever and she found herself shaking and trembling inside. She couldn't control it. It swept past her defences and took over.

"HA!" she managed, trying to breathe.

No reaction from Kelly, except maybe a slight glare. Could never tell if it was permanent with her. Admittedly, it probably looked much scarier than her own.

Multiple deep recovering breaths later, she managed to speak. "Me? Super teenage spy hero? Really, you think that?"

The eyebrow rose. Getting annoyed.

"Yeah right. I'm anything but. Coz, aren't spies supposed to stay secret. It doesn't take people long to notice I'm in the room."

"You sneak up on me."

Valid point, but trying to blend in doesn't come naturally. Being herself works great for blending in here because everyone's like her. "Usually I attract attention. I'm not a spy."

"Spies lie."

"I wouldn't be much of a spy if I talked in my sleep now would I? I can just imagine myself blabbing away any plans to whoever is listening. Not a very secret spy. Not a very alive spy either."

Finally it looked like she'd convinced her. She was curious about why she'd thought that though.

"What made you think that anyway?"

"You don't exist on the Internet."

"So...?" Internet, computers, technical thing doing stuff. She might be able to operate some of them, but never understand how they worked. That she'd leave to the Professor and the Geeks.

"So that hardly ever happens unless someone has deliberated deleted everything about you and then removed every single trace so not even the Geeks can find it," Kelly informed her, still glaring a bit.

Mustn't happen a lot then. "If you wanted to know something, you only had to ask."

Kelly took full advantage of that offer as though beginning an interrogation.

"Why was your stuff outside?"

"In case I needed to run."

"What's in the cans?"

"Potassium Nitrate and some stuff."

"Why do you make it?"

"I get bored. It's fun blowing stuff up."

"What's with the jacket?"

"Hey! Leave it alone! I like it," Ace defended. "Geeks have their computer stuff, Emos have their black things, Chavs have their lipgloss, First Years have their slingshots, Totties have lots of..." Ace struggled for words. "... frilly stuff, and you've got your heels. I have my jacket."

"Why hasn't your computer got anything on it?"

"I just got it."

"Who from?"

"A friend."

"It's old."

"So?"

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"When's your birthday?"

"End of October."

"That's soon."

Oh, yeah. It is. She hadn't thought about that. Barely a week away, blimey. Happy 34th Birthday coming right up. What was that? 17? Nah you missed that, too bad.

"Where did you go before you came here?"

The tad of excitement for her birthday died. That's what she wanted to know. She wanted to know what she'd done, probably to blackmail her. Little did she know how touchy that particular area was.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Without meaning to, she'd said it snappishly in a low dark tone, and looked up to judge Kelly's reaction.

"Ok," she said simply, dropping the subject.

"Ok?" Ace repeated, confused.

"Yeah. Unless you do want to talk about it?"

"No, I mean. I'm fine."

"Good."

Awkward pause followed. "So..." Ace began, "Is that all?"

"For now."

"Right then, I'm gonna get something to eat."

Kelly frowned. "I thought I told the twins to get you something."

She gave her another look. "If you were dead to the world in dreamland and you woke up to them talking in your ear and, after telling you that they'd been listening to you sleep talk, they offered you food, would you eat it?"

"Probably."

"Good for you. I sure didn't."


	24. Sneaking About For Answers

**Author's Note: Long chapter. Exciting chapter. (*Crosses fingers for reviews*)**

**Chapter 23**

**Sneaking About For Answers**

'_The time you assume someone's gone then change your mind is when the person _

_sneaks up to you and scares the living daylights out of you.'_

Kelly found she was relaxing a bit more since she'd finally made some progress of sussing Ace out. It had nerved her for days, being unable to understand her. She wasn't a fake, that was for sure. She wasn't pretending to be anything or anyone, she was just herself. Who that made her, Kelly still hadn't determined. Ordinary girl, no way. Clone, definitely not. There could only be one Ace in the world like her without the world being blown sky high. Spy, apparently not.

So many things still didn't make sense about her, like where she'd come from, why she wouldn't talk about her past, and why the date of birth on her application form in Beverly's files didn't match the age she'd given on the roof.

But Kelly was patient. She could wait. She'd find out, somehow, but not just yet.

As far as everyone else was concerned, they didn't see Ace as the 'New Girl' anymore. She'd succeeded in making a name for herself, or rather proving why she deserved the name 'Ace'. That and she was darn good at poker with her completely unreadable poker-face (She claimed it was all about having "An Ace up your sleeve," but not even the twins light fingers could ever find a card on her).

She still didn't have a group, but fitting in wasn't her nature. Kelly admitted it was probably a good thing as she found it hard to imagine Ace as a Geek (She just didn't quite have the 'Geek' factor), or an Emo (Practically fearless with a dislike for certain Chavs, however she wasn't dark enough), or a Chav (Sharp tongue, snappy and straight to the point, but grouping her in the same category as Josey's crowd would result in a blood bath), or a Posh Totty (No... just... no). She was First Year in character, and did act like them occasionally (More often than occasionally actually), but she was just too old. They liked her and followed her like a bunch of loyal Beagles but she wasn't one of them.

Ace was just Ace. A one off, unique, and thankfully the girls got that.

* * *

Something had changed in the air. The faintest hint of a fresh smell was detectable as hostility levels dropped and, for the first time, Ace didn't need any of her hidden arsenal or snappy comebacks to make people leave her alone, because, instead of being snide and guarded they seemed, well normal. In fact some of them kinda gathered around her, the First Years mainly. Josey took a trip up the furthest tree; skulking around bothering passersby as her mind roamed elsewhere; so no assaults or sudden one way trips down stairs.

Except that one time the brainless twit stole her jacket.

"Feel safe, do you, protected by your First Year army?"

The 'army' she had been referring to was the constant gathering of First Years that continued to follow her since she brought them back from town. It was weird and a tad creepy, but it didn't seem to matter what she said to them or how many times she told them 'Get lost'. They just wouldn't leave.

"Not my army," Ace had told her, a dark hint in her tone.

"Not how it looks from here."

"Yeah, I'd be pretty terrified by 10 to 12 year olds too if I was a tough gum-chewing Chav like you. Thankfully for my sake, I'm not. I would sympathise, but it seems intentional."

"Just who da ya think you are?"

"Let's just say I'm everything you're not and will never be."

"Ohh. So like, arrogant much?"

"Not really. I'm proud because unlike you, I have a sense of humour, very creative chemistry skills, a dozen cans of Nitro, seven smoke bombs and some intelligence. Shame the same can't be said for you."

The girl had smiled falsely then punched her in the face. Another black eye, just what she'd needed. She'd snatched the jacket and run while she was down. Ace was not ashamed to say that, yes, she had snapped. Thoughts about killing her definitely occurred to her. People often wonder how the school is still standing after she tore the place apart looking for her beloved jacket and her nemesis. Sometimes at night she wonders exactly what she would have done if she had caught her right then and there. She'd never know.

The incident coined the term 'Gone Nitro', as she had gone off just as explosively and unexpectedly as her tool of the trade. Someone even added it to the dictionary on all the computers in the school (Although how, Ace had no idea, nor did she really care), and the short form 'GN'.

She heard whispers that some students debated over which they'd rather face for a dare, Ace when she's that mad or Kelly's pure rage. According to her inside source (The twins) it was a tough call, for while they really didn't want to annoy Kelly as she'd make life a misery, they had also figured out her top speed thanks to the Geeks calculations, and doubted they'd get fifty meters away before she caught them.

* * *

It was Tuesday, Tuesday night if you're being specific, and Ace was wide awake. Four weeks in a row she'd found herself awake at this time for no apparent reason. She was growing tired of it. A sleep deprived Ace was not a happy one, so she had to do something about it. She didn't just decide to wake up at this time because she felt like it. There had to be a reason. Maybe Andrea snored especially loudly on Tuesdays or Polly kept turning over, making her bed squeak horribly, but it wasn't quite important enough to know at ten past twelve at night nor could she find motivation to consider getting up and going for a walk. It was a cold night and she was warm and intended to stay that way.

Amongst the snoring and heavy breathing, a much quieter sound drew her attention. A slight creak that matched the one a floorboard made downstairs. Somebody was up, probably going to the bathroom. However, Ace knew the bathroom was upstairs and the sound had come from downstairs meaning...

Naturally, she went to investigate.

No lights were on as she carefully made her way out of the dorm, having donned her jacket and put her boots on. The boots made more noise on the stairs, but she didn't regret her decision to wear them. She wasn't going after someone in the dark in bare feet. Who knew what she might step on after all the traps and snares the First Years set each day.

In the corridor she stopped and waited for another sound to give her directions. All was as silent as a graveyard (The skulls in the cupboard illuminated in the dark and gave her the shivers). She then doubted if there had been any noise to hear. It was late and this place still made creepy sounds that put her on edge. Making up her mind to march right back to bed, she turned. A shadow skimmed along the window to her left, catching her eye.

Yes, there was someone there. Her curiosity took over as she found a way outside after them; the open window which, presumably, had been their exit route too. All the other doors were locked, and the windows closed, except this one; more evidence to support that someone was sneaking out without anyone knowing.

She followed them. The figure didn't walk the most direct route out, instead walking straight ahead as though going that way, only to turn left once reaching the trees, stopping and starting along the way. Realising their planned exit was leading to that gap in the fence she'd found when she'd been blackmailed into joining the First Years on their little trip, she felt comfortable shifting slightly off the path and stopping at the base of a tree. Although appearing identical to every other tree around it, Ace pulled herself up into it and reached even higher up to a fork. After Kelly had found her bag's hiding place, she'd found another one. Hopefully this time it would take a lot longer to find.

A moment later she dropped down, briefly searched for the figure then walked along the fence. She could beat them to the gap and stop them in their tracks before they got wherever they were going. Selecting a tree to hide behind, she waited for a short while. Sensing, rather than hearing their approach, she pressed herself against the trunk, her head tilted sideways, eyes scanning for her first close up view.

Something must have tipped them off about her presence. They could have heard her breathing, seen light reflect ever so slightly off a safety pin attached to her jacket, or maybe they were so aware that they just knew they weren't alone anymore without an obvious reason.

Ace couldn't see the figure, couldn't hear their footsteps either. Perhaps they'd gone? And how often has that happened to you, Ace, her instincts asked her. Never. They're never gone when you think they have. She stayed put, not daring to even peek around to see.

The time you assume someone's gone then change your mind is when the person sneaks up to you and scares the living daylights out of you. This time was no exception.

Wood struck the other side of her tree with a thud. Everything about Ace jumped except her body that she'd frozen to the spot. They'd thrown something at her, Ace thought half angry half startled. Something that sounded very big, very heavy and that would hurt a very lot. But she waited.

A minute later, she heard the unseen figure move on with the slightest crackle of stepped on leaves. She could have moved to follow them, but she didn't. As though in sinc with her thoughts, the figure jerked suddenly and stood completely still. It was what she would have done if she thought someone was following her; try to catch them off guard. Seems they both thought the same.

"I'd go back to bed now," said a voice in the dark.

Kelly? She'd been following Kelly? Despite the evidence, somehow it didn't seem right. Kelly wouldn't have left the window open, Kelly wouldn't have walked in plain sight. Ace knew she wouldn't. You can't follow people for hours without learning some of their patterns. These were armature mistakes. Kelly was much too clever for that.

"I mean it," she continued after receiving no answer. Her voice sounded much closer than her footsteps had been. "Don't make this 'Hide and Seek'. I will find you." The statement was a promise.

Ace's heart thumped loudly. Surely she could hear it too. A crunching sound drowned it out. Was she coming closer? She should step out, give herself up. Kelly knew she was there, it was only a matter of time before she stopped waiting.

As she lifted her foot to accept her fate, another footstep beat her too it. And another, and another. Someone was running back to the school. Not Kelly. She was still there. Ace heard her breathing change. A sigh, then the sound vanished. A moment later, she was sure that Kelly had gone, as had the other shadowed figure, the one she had originally followed. Things had changed slightly, but not by much. There was still the unknown reason Kelly was sneaking out for.

Ace would have let her go alone, save for the sudden recollection she had. Kelly always went missing on Wednesdays. It was not long before early Wednesday morning arrived, and Kelly was sneaking out. She was never around, always returning without discovery by Thursday morning. Being gone all day, Ace figured it wasn't just a quick trip somewhere.

The need to know became overwhelming. The proximity of the gap in the fence did not help. She could just duck out see where Kelly was heading then come back. Or she could sit and wait here until she returned. Except that would take hours and Ace wouldn't wait that long. No, the second option was stupid.

The longer it took to make up her mind, the further away Kelly would get. She was torn between her curiosity and the possibility of annoying Kelly if she was seen. If she was seen…

Well, she'd have to not be seen then.

This is why you always get into trouble, her inner voice reprimanded her. You go looking for it on purpose.

Yep.

And you're still going to do it, her voice said accusingly.

Yep.

* * *

She was headed somewhere in London. That was all Ace had figured out after almost forty minutes of walking (Yes, walking) a hundred meters or so behind her. Following Kelly was easier than she had thought. The whole trip was taking a long, long time. It was starting to get boring, watching Kelly, hiding from Kelly, checking if Kelly wasn't looking back anymore, finding out that Kelly had kept walking and hadn't looked in the first place, hurrying to catch up, only having to hide again.

It almost would have been a relief if Kelly had seen her. She might have stopped and dragged her back to school by the ear, and, although painful, Ace wouldn't have to worry about being seen anymore. As they reached the outskirts, Ace stifled a yawn. Getting bored. Nothing's happening.

As Kelly crossed the road, a dark coloured car drove out of a side street and continued past several small shops, turning into the next side street ahead of her. All of a sudden Ace found she wasn't tired anymore. Kelly walked into the side street, disappearing from sight. Quickening her pace, she made to follow. The car's tires screeched as it zoomed out and onto the road again. Ace slid into the nearest shop entrance. Had Kelly entered the car? Or was she still there, waiting in the dark?

Her questions were answered when she saw a figure Kelly's height come out of the street and kept walking straight ahead. Something about her said 'stealthy' now like she was getting closer to her destination. Two side streets later and she opened the door to a shop on the end and slipped inside. Seeing a light turn on through a small window, Ace hurried over to it and climbed onto a large bin. There was nothing to see through it so she pressed her ear against the glass.

"Were you followed?" asked a deep, distinctly male voice. The words were slightly muffled as the glass muted out some of its volume.

"If I had, wouldn't you'd already know?" Kelly's tone implied that she'd been through this countless times. "What do you want?"

"A deal's being made tonight in a warehouse by Hilton Pier. We want you to be there."

"Why?"

"We want to know what is being traded, and for what."

"Better be important." She was annoyed. Understandably, Ace thought. She did just walk all the way here only to be told to go to this pier. She wouldn't be happy either.

"Would we have called you if it wasn't?"

She didn't answer for a long time. "It has happened before."

Oooohhhhh. That was her dark menacing tone. He's not in her good books. Ace was willing to bet she was glaring at him too, arms crossed.

There was some other muffled noise, then the door opened. Three tall figures in dark suits exited, and, looking in every direction for any witnesses, swiftly disappeared into a black car that conveniently happened to drive pass. Allowing the car to drive off, she kept an eye out for Kelly. A minute later, she caught the glimpse of her slip out of the building and head along a different path. It seemed that Kelly knew the way to this pier. Good, because Ace had no idea. She might have heard of it before, but she couldn't remember. Not wanting to get lost or left behind, she set off after her again.

* * *

For the tenth time, Ace wished she'd borrowed a car. Or a motorbike, or taken a bus, or a taxi, or even skateboard. She had no idea what Kelly's connection to the suited people was. Not really friends of hers if her tone was anything to judge by. Chances were, if Kelly had been so cautious to make sure no one would come after her, and slunk like a panther into the shadows whenever she could, then she was doing something she didn't want anyone to know about. Probably meaning it was dangerous, but not just a bit dangerous but a lot, because she was keeping the other girls at St Trinian's unaware of it.

Ace missed her Nitro. She'd left most of it behind, just bringing one can. Silly mistake. She'd likely need more of it now. That's the way it is always is. The time you forget your keys, the wind slams the door shut and you're stuck outside, the day you decide, nah I won't need an umbrella, is when it will pour all day long. That might be the reason the Professor always carries that red handled umbrella; caught out in the rain too much.

When she finally caught sight of the warehouse, she lost track of Kelly. Deciding not to rush into anything, she looked around. Sure enough, there were maybe four cars hidden around in the shadows of the back streets, several with two or so occupants inside. She saw the slight flicker of something in the light and caught a brief glance of someone slipping into the building. It had to be Kelly.

It seemed she wasn't the only one to see her. The occupants of the cars immediately got out and started covering the perimeter. Ace smelt a trap, could feel it in her gut. Her suspicions were confirmed when the people pulled guns out of their coats and jackets. People with guns are always the bad guys.

She gave them a wide berth and trailed the side of the building, mapping it out in her head. Exit here, there and another two up on the second storey, broken window, loose iron sheet to the left side. The exits were swiftly being cut off. However, one entrance was close and unguarded. The scaffolding would make access inside pretty handy and inconspicuous.

Lighting inside was dull, but bright enough to shrink the number of possible hiding places, making the roof appealing. Crouching on one of a series of wooden planks that ran like train tracks across the roof Ace peered down, keeping low and as close to the neighbouring wall as she could.

Beneath her stood Kelly, dressed fully in black and that (and her hair) made her look like a shadow, even in the light. A man with big arms was pointing a gun at her. It wasn't hard to tell that Kelly had become aware of the change in situation. She'd been set up, and, naturally, she was not happy. Her tone was darker when she was angry, but now it was so low that Ace could barely hear her. The other guy was pretty loud, allowing her to hear half the conversation. There was another man partially hidden in the shadows too, but he wasn't very chatty, just watching.

"Who hired us? Wouldn't you like to know?" Beefy number one smirked. She couldn't see his face, but that was what she pictured him doing. Bad teeth, maybe a missing front one or two, greasy or little hair, dark brown to black in colour. Actually, probably bald, Ace decided.

"Was real nice of you to just waltz right in here. Saved us the hassle of looking."

You'd never have found her, Ace thought defiantly. You wouldn't find a broom in a broom closet.

"Boss said you were quiet, but I thought a smart girl like you'd know when to plead for your life."

She nearly fell from the plank when the man tilted the gun and shot straight up at the roof near her head. Gordon Bennet, she exclaimed silently, heart trembling. A hand's length to the right and she'd be cuts of medium rare steak. Not fancying her luck of missing another freakishly close shot like that, she crept back to the side and began to navigate a safe, quiet route down.

She thought she saw the man in the shadows look up to where she'd been. Luckily there was no longer anything to see. She kept an eye on him though. He'd have a gun on him too. Also, two against one definitely wasn't fair when the two had the added advantage of guns.

She'd strive to even things up more.

"Boss mustn't know me very well then," Kelly responded eyes glued to the man, not the gun.

Just two meters off the ground, she spotted the other guy. And oh look. His back's to her and there's an ugly gun holster attached to his belt. Better get rid of that.

Beefy snorted. "That's what you think. He thinks otherwise." He levelled the gun at her again. "In my experience, this can make even the toughest blokes cry."

"What a pity I'm not a bloke. You must be so disappointed."

You tell him, Kit, though Ace from the shadows of a large box.

He shrugged, not really caring. "Opposite actually. This hasn't turned out too bad for me."

"And why's that?" Kelly asked, sarcasm oozing from her tongue.

"I don't get just one to shoot, I get two."

In the distance of maybe ten meters that felt like kilometres, the voice of Kelly drifted towards her. "Two?"

"Don't play stupid. You've got backup."

The second guy, startled, started peering around, trying to see if there was anyone near him. Too late now, Ace was already gone.

"No. I am alone," stated Kelly, belief filling every word.

"Really?" asked Beefy. "Then who's that?"

He allowed the gun to slowly drift past Kelly to rest upon the small pile of crates, one of which suddenly jerked sideways and met the floor with two bangs. At that moment Ace bolted in the other direction, as low to the ground as possible like she was running barefoot on lava. The four seconds she was out in the open, she saw the gun with its barrel end pointed at her suddenly curve through the air as a high kick a gymnastic would be proud of whipped out of nowhere. Aided by the man's disorientation and lack of balance, a second kick sent him sprawling, clutching his jaw, followed by a double punch to the kidneys.

"Kit!" Ace exclaimed both startled and amazed by her nimbleness and skill.

Kelly jumped sky high and spun around. Wow. She really had no idea she'd come. Better at hiding and being stealthy than she'd thought.

She recovered extremely quickly though. "McKenzie! Out!"

Responding to her fake surname as though it belonged to her, she obeyed without question. They were just beneath the second floor platform when they saw the second guy coming towards them, reaching for his gun. Kelly slid behind into the nearest hidey hole anticipating his fire, but Ace kept going, much to Kelly's distress.

Bullets? Oh, from the gun? Which gun? Oh, his gun. Ace was practically skipping along, whilst Kelly, eyes wide in alarm, tried to signal her to duck down. The man sets his sights on her and fired… nothing. Just a click.

Hearing the sound and knowing what it meant, Kelly pulled herself up onto a narrow shelf and up onto the second floor platform. Ace had already beaten her to the window and, after peering outside, she gave a half nod and climbed through it, no fixed destination but away from her current location.

Slipping out onto the scaffold, the pair climbed, and, near the bottom, leapt down. Speed meaning just as much as stealth here, they compromised by running from the shadows of the warehouse to those along an alleyway. Bullets whizzed past and sent a cold shiver down Ace's spine. Kelly's hand pushed her down as footsteps of their pursuers grew closer. The second the thud thud of heavy boots passed them, Ace allowed herself to be dragged across to the other side. Holding their breath, they listened.

"They'll try to block the exits," Kelly said quietly, sounding more serious than ever. Very calm for someone being chased and wanted dead. She then turned to look right at her to exclaim in a whisper, "What are you doing here? You were so lucky that gun was empty. You would've been killed!"

"Lucky?" Ace whispered back. "Luck had nothing to do with it." She dug her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out the bullet casings. "See?"

Kelly's eyes widened, only for a split second. Hearing something nearby, she glanced around the corner. "We need to move."

No kidding.

Without removing her gaze from around the corner, she lifted two fingers, then looked the other way and lifted three. Kelly motioned to the left. She couldn't be thinking of taking their chances against two armed people, surely? Crouched, ready to move, she stiffened when Ace tapped her on the arm.

"Or," Ace suggested, "we go up and over."

In the semidarkness it was hard to distinguish a confused face from an angry one, except for the slightly raised eyebrow. She gently jerked her head back into the shadows, past the bins and things to a high metal fence that had to lead to someone's backyard.

"Reckon you can manage that?" Ace asked with a smirk, knowing that if Kelly could kick that high she would have no problem climbing over it.

The smirk was the only response she needed.

Had anyone been awake at two twenty in the morning and decided to look out their window, they might have fainted at the sight of a shadow sailing over their locked back fence followed by another figure who landed even more gracefully and with less noise. However, the owner's of the house would have counted their blessings that the pair didn't stick around long. In fact they ran the length of the yard then climbed and leaped over the neighbour's fence.

An odd sight for sure, but the sudden appearance of another two shadows took the cake for the strangest thing. Basically, they made more noise than a garbage truck and were much slower at climbing over the gate. Obviously hadn't spent enough much of their teenage years exploring the back streets at night. By the time the second set of shadows had reached the second fence, the first pair were five fences ahead.

"You do know where you're going?" Kelly breathed as she followed Ace across another yard.

"Away from there," she replied. "And away from them. Where exactly doesn't matter quite yet."

"You shouldn't even be here."

"And you should probably still be back there, maybe dead."

Kelly's voice hardened. "If 'thanks' is the only reason you're here then I'm afraid to say you've come in vain."

"Oh, I know Kit. The moon'll turn red and be eaten by mice before I ever get thanked for anything," Ace cried in annoyance, although not at Kelly but the sheer injustice of saving the world day after day without a simple 'Thankyou'. "For now, I'll settle with an angry, but alive Kelly wanting to yell at me."

"I'm not yelling," Kelly returned.

"Yet," Ace added with a murmur. "Oh joy, another fence."

When she saw the fence too, Kelly shook her head. "This was your idea."

"Yeah. Just a bit boring. Up, down, run. Up, down, run. I almost wish something more interesting would happen."

Bang!

"Ace," she growled.

"What? I didn't say, 'Oh, I wish we were being shot at again'."

Regardless, that was what was happening. It wasn't the guys behind them but others to the side, trying to cut them off, or slow them down. Or maybe, just maybe, kill them and be done with it.

Up and over, half trip over a pot plant someone had inconsiderately put there, stumble for a few steps then dodge around a garden of leafy plants to hide. Ace couldn't tell which way the bullets were coming from, but she wasn't keen on finding out first hand. Thinking along the same lines, Kelly also picked up a pebble from the garden and chucked it to the left. A bullet was fired after it, but only the one. Ace tried the other direction and got five.

"Near the gate," Kelly told her, seeing the slightest flash of light on metal.

That fence was no go then. Back the way they'd come wasn't an option either. After briefly scanning the surroundings the choices were limited to one; the fence behind them with a tall prickly hedge on the other side. Well, hello hedge, Ace though as both she and Kelly greeted the hedge with a jerky, gravity enforced embrace. As sharp and to the point as predicted. Yes, we'd love to stick around but we've gotta dash.

Another fence once cleared revealed an empty one way lane, a nice straight hundred meter stretch. Running. Always good. Easy. Hadn't run like this in a long time, Ace reflected. Not proper 'away from danger' running anyway. But this, this was good. Felt normal even.

Ace was puzzled for a second and wondered how Kelly could possibly be keeping up, then realised she had assumed, because it had always been the case previously, she was wearing heels. Which she wasn't. When Kelly did run beside her, she noticed exactly what she was wearing.

Practical black shoes. No way. Kelly owned something other than heels? Wow. Oh, and a leather looking jacket and tights. The jacket suited her in the dark. Bit dull though, not quite as original as her own though. And the tights, well that explained how she could kick like that. You just couldn't in tight jeans or that skirt she normally wears. Then again, if she tried…

A bullet reminded her to keep focused.

Kelly had passed her and was running in a haphazard zigzag. Must help to avoid the bullets, Ace thought, following her lead. It was reassuring that she didn't have to make the decisions about which way to go. Until they took a wrong turn somewhere. Must have been where that crazy truck swerved out of nowhere to block their path. Could have been their pursuers, might not have been, but neither considered finding out.

Ace swears on the stars that she heard Kelly mutter "Bugger" under her breath when she saw the wall.

She knows that the name 'Gordon Bennet' escaped her own mouth when she caught sight of it too.

Not a tall wall. Not a wall with spikes. Not a wall with barbed wire along the top. No. This wall was barely shoulder height, very plain and boring, and made of stone. The problem was what was over the wall.

Just a small little thing called the Thames.

"For once, I'm really glad I didn't bring my Nitro," Ace breathed.

Kelly froze, turning her head very slowly. "You followed me, all the way to some warehouse on the outskirts of London, surrounded by thugs with guns, and didn't bring any?"

"Oh, so you assumed that because I did show up out of nowhere that I'd be armed to the teeth with cans?" replied Ace sarcastically.

"Could only hope…" Kelly hissed.

"Well I'm not, and seeing that…" Ace paused, explanation not required. "Now that's what I call lucky."

"You're not thinking of…" she began.

Ace shot her a look as she jogged back along the road a meter or so.

"Oh, you are thinking..." Kelly continued, sounding anything but enthusiastic. Noticing Ace reaching into her jacket, she frowned. "What- You said you didn't-"

"Yeah, well I lied."

Kelly, looking at her, then announced, "I don't like that grin."

"Oh, I think you will," Ace replied, still grinning as she ran back at full speed, the heavy footfalls of the armed men behind her.

"Why, what have you-" She never got to finish that sentence.

"Jump, Kit!" she yelled, grabbing her hand. She cleared the wall half pulling Kelly after her. The thunderous clap of the explosion was drowned out as the pair plunged feet first into the dark murky waters.

* * *

Kelly had been silent for a while now, either thinking, stunned by the sudden chill, or just too tired to talk. The surprise might have had something to do with it. Ace was beginning to get the impression that Kelly was less than impressed.

"McKenzie."

"Yes Kit?" asked Ace, swimming as quietly as possible to attract the least attention of any potential onlookers. What was there to gawk at? Just a couple of girls dressed in black clothes and leather jackets shivering as they swam through the cold Thames water at night. Just another day in the life of Ace really.

"Next time you plan on doing something completely, stupidly unpredictably dangerous like that again-"

Luckily Kelly wasn't looking at her, otherwise she might have noticed the broad grin stretched across her face. Ace breathed a sigh of relief. Kelly wasn't irritated, just a tad annoyed. Big difference.

"Oh, good. I was afraid you were gonna say there won't be a next time. Great!" She grinned.

"That's not what I-," Kelly sighed, deciding to cut her losses while she could. "Let's just… keep going."

"Agreed. I dunno about you, but I'm always starving after a midnight jog."

Kelly kicked twice to swim on her side to stare at her. "We're up to our necks in the Thames and you're telling me you're hungry?" she asked incredulously.

"Priorities, Kit," Ace reminded her. "At the moment, both of us are alive, not bleeding to death, got plenty of water, so much in fact that we're swimming in it, and I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I'm used to getting some food after this kind of stuff," Ace admitted.

Kelly's eyes shone suddenly. "You have done this before."

Despite the chance to reply that was given to her, Ace neither confirmed nor denied the statement.

"You're explaining yourself as soon as we're out of here, McKenzie."

"Just call me Ace. McKenzie sounds too much like a teacher telling me off." And it wasn't her real name. Technically, Ace wasn't either, but still.

"As soon as you stop calling me 'Kit'."

"No. I like it."

"I don't."

Hearing no aggression or dark threads to the announcement of opinion, Ace took a chance and answered with a bit of cheek. "Suit yourself. I'll keep calling you that anyway."

"Ace…"

Still nothing that said 'stop it' so she continued. "See? Not that hard now is it?"

"…"

"What?" Had she misunderstood Kelly's verbal signals and stepped too far?

"You babble on more than Chelsea!" she exclaimed.

"Do not!" Ace retorted.

"Do to."

"Do not!"

"Unbelievable. I'm arguing with a pyromaniac about talking too much whilst swimming away from people with guns," Kelly murmured purposely loud enough for her to hear.

"And you're loving every second of it."


	25. Unwilling Messenger

**Author's Note: Thanks SO much for the 2 great reviews! I sometimes find it hard to tell when I'm breaking character or wandering off the plot path or going around in circles. Having people tell me they get it (so far anyway) gives me a real boost. **

**This one is short because the next is really long. And I thought the last chapter was getting long! I hope that's no starting a trend. It takes so much longer to read over and edit longer chapters, thus taking longer to post it here.**

**Anyways... Enjoy.**

**Chapter 24**

**Unwilling Messenger**

'"_You want me to sneak into the school at this time to tell 'er something you _

_could tell 'er yourself. Might as well tell me ta go creeping in the den of a lion."'_

"We're not going to make it back before breakfast," announced Kelly as the pair dragged themselves out of the water about half an hour of swimming later.

"And that matters how?" Ace gasped with an involuntary shiver.

She removed her jacket, turned the pockets inside-out and held it at arm's distance as a steady stream of water poured out. No wonder it had been so heavy and difficult to swim in! But exhaustion and threat of death weren't enough to make her leave it behind. Oh, no. It had survived worse than this before. It means too much for her to leave behind because it was inconvenient, and, although presently wet, it was the warmest piece of clothing she had with her.

Kelly gathered her hair in her hands (not that there was much of it as it was cut so short) and squeezed a small proportion of the liquid from it. Luckily for her, the tight clothing she wore acted similarly to a wetsuit and had kept her warm. It was still soaked though.

She answered the question with a glance. "Besides the fact that we'd still be dressed like this, drenched, shivering due to hypothermia with mascara running down my face, I don't want them to know about it."

Slightly amused by the last reason, Ace managed a smirk at the black smear that was being rinsed off. "That's why you wear waterproof."

Proceeding to wring water out of her shirt, Kelly remarked, "I wasn't expecting to go for a dip, thank you very much."

Thinking it best to change the subject back to the present, Ace asked, "So, what do you suggest then?"

"I need to make a few phone calls."

Having heard odder ideas, she went along with it, trying not to leave too much of a drip trail behind her (But, just like when she'd been shoved into the fountain, she tired of it rapidly). Someone would be very confused about its cause later, but it might have dried up by then. She found after a minute or so that it was her in fact who was leading, and wondered if that was a smart idea. She had no clue where they were now. Glancing back to observe Kelly preoccupied by her own thoughts, she shrugged and kept going straight ahead.

The area wasn't too much different to the streets she'd walked down before, and after a few intersections and alleyways that lead nowhere a phone box was located on the corner. Incredible, some things just don't change much. But hang about! It's just like the one in Perivale. Sighting the phone, Kelly zoned back into action. They walked over it. Ace gave the machine a good thump. The responding twang of struck metal confirmed her suspicions.

Not sure what to make of Ace's action, Kelly stared at her. "You need money," she told her, like she was explaining it to a four year old.

Ace rolled her eyes. She wasn't stupid. In fact, she was relying on her past experience with these machines in order to do something clever. This was an old phone box, not exactly the same as the ones in Perivale but similar, and, if it was anything like their predecessors, it should have the same flaw begging to be exploited.

Humming to herself, she took a safety pin off her jacket and carefully pocketed the badge so she wouldn't lose it. Aware of the eyes watching her, she inserted the pin into one of the grooves and fiddled with it until she heard a faint click. She then pulled the pin out in one hard jerk and the metallic twinkling of coins falling into the pavement was a sweet sound to hear.

"Oh, look," exclaimed Ace. "Money."

Kelly gave her a look.

"What?"

She gave her another pointed look then jerked her head to the side.

Understanding with a sigh, Ace walked away from the phone and occupied herself with looking at the stores along the street. However, despite the distance between them, she found Kelly's voice travelled in the early hours of the morning.

"Set up. … At least twelve. … No idea. … Payphone. … No, I'll call you."

Once she'd hung up, Ace walked back over. "Talking to the tall blokes in suits?"

Kelly blinked at her. "You speak Arabic?"

"Ah..." She'd deliberately spoken to the suited people in another language so she wouldn't understand a word of it. Opps.

Kelly crossed her arms across her chest. Not happy. "Answers, now."

Ace chose that moment to start collecting the coins scattered everywhere. "It's complicated," she answered, truthfully. It wasn't only the 'understanding all languages' thing, as you'd have to explain the 'time travel' bit too.

"Complicated, 'I don't want to tell you', or complicated, 'it'd take all night.' "

"Both." Ace quickly made to correct herself, "But mainly the last one."

"You'll have plenty of time to tell me then."

* * *

"I don't know what's worse," Ace moaned. "The fact that you're forcing me to accept help from a certain curly weasel or that you know his number off by heart."

"You could keep walking," reminded Kelly.

She was too tired to put up an argument. "Oh, fine. Tell him we went for a swim in the Thames and need a hotel room or something. I'd love to see what he'd think of that."

The thought horrified Kelly. "Tell him anything about tonight and I'll-"

"Do something incredibly threatening that may involve humiliation, harm, and or damage to my ears," she finished for her, much to Kelly's surprise. "You just have no idea how many times something along those line has been said to me."

"Oh really. Do tell."

Ace ignored her. "Just once, I wish it wasn't all, 'I'll unleash some terrible evil unless you do as I say,' and 'I am a dangerous enemy so you better keep quiet.' It would make a change to have someone say 'Do this and I'll give you chocolate.'"

"Fine." Her features concealed her inner thoughts as she said, "Don't tell Flash anything, and I'll get something to eat."

"Ok, I will," announced Ace happily and let her disappear over a fence.

After raiding an unoccupied house, Kelly returned with a plastic bag half full of snack food. Ace greeted it with a smirk.

"I even managed the chocolate."

"Yes!" Ace cheered.

Twenty minutes later…

"Urgh…"

Kelly turned to look at her. "Eat too much?" Glancing at the remains of the food, it wasn't hard to come to that conclusion.

"No," Ace defended. "Sleepy."

"I could wake you when he gets here."

Ace shook her head. "Nu uh. I'm not shutting my eyes until after he's gone."

"That could be a while then."

"Why does he have to come?" she moaned. She couldn't help her increasingly sour mood. Being awake all day only to wake up in the middle of the night to go walking, running, hiding and swimming did take the energy out of you once the adrenaline died down. Even the chocolate wasn't doing much for her.

"He is paying for us," Kelly reminded as they sat around the corner of the arranged hotel on a bench in a small park. "Unless you want to go find thirty more phone boxes to collect two hundred pounds."

"I have no problem with him paying," Ace huffed, "but that doesn't mean he has to actually come to organise everything. I'd be fine if he showed up in the morning when I could manage to slap him, but not now. Too tired." A long yawn escaped her mouth, proving her point.

"I'll be sure to tell him. He'll be so relieved."

"The second after you do, I'll tell him you know his number by heart," she threatened.

Kelly put her neutral face mask on. "So?"

"So, that mightn't mean much to you, but I think he'll see it differently," Ace commented, confident enough with her suspicions to risk poking at it a little.

"Are you attempting to blackmail me?" Kelly asked, halfway between annoyed and amused.

"No. If I was, I've got plenty of other stuff that'd do the job much better."

"Since I know next to nothing about you, it leaves me at an unfair disadvantage."

"Tell you later."

Kelly let it drop. Neither could be bothered talking too much as it was late (Actually early, but late for them), almost three in the morning.

"You're so confident he's actually coming," Ace yawned.

"Flash has been with us for years. Never has he let us down."

Some of her conviction rubbed off a bit and Ace allowed that to reassure her.

At that moment, a man walked out of the hotel lobby, not Flash but one of the hotel's employees. Kelly caught sight of him and, nudging Ace, stood up.

"See? Told you. We're in."

* * *

Room number fifteen. Identical to the other forty odd, save the faint glow of the television flickering through the gap under the door. Shaking slightly, a dozen thoughts zooming through his head, Flash wiped his hands on his trousers before raising his hand to knocking gently. He barely managed two knocks before the door burst open.

"Oh, h-hey Kel," he stuttered, startled not only by her ability to rapidly answer doors without warning but the bizarrely soggy and unusually wild state of her hair. He couldn't say for certain what her hair looked like straight after having a rushed shower, but he assumed it wouldn't anywhere near as out of place.

She silenced him with a finger against his lips as her eyes darted down both ends of the corridor. Satisfied with whatever she had (Or rather hadn't) seen, she dragged him inside by the collar and shut the door swiftly, but soundlessly.

"What happened to you?" he began before taking in his surroundings.

Something odd had to be going on and it wasn't just her hair. Early morning phone call aside, if he didn't know better he'd think she'd swum the Channel for a dare, although what the black clothing had to do with it, he had no idea. He even said as much (The part about swimming the Channel, not the other bit. God, she'd bite his head off if he asked that), but Kelly did a very Kelly thing by ignoring the comment as though he hadn't spoken.

His gaze would have slid over the lounge as it had everything else in the room except when he caught sight of a head resting on a cushion pushed against the armrest, an equally crazy, if not more so, head of long brown hair barely holding together in a ponytail. A dark patch on the material showed that the hair was wet too. Something hanging on the bathroom door handle drew his attention too and he frowned as he took a few steps towards it, not quite able to see it properly. Then when it suddenly leapt into view he jerked away, identifying it instantly. He'd only ever seen one jacket like that.

Connecting the dots rapidly, he backed away from the head on the lounge. "What the 'ell is she doing 'ere?" His hand rested against his cheek as though it was defending it from invisible blows.

"She can't slap you while she's asleep," Kelly said, a hint of humour in her voice.

Flash's eyes watched Ace carefully. Yes, she might be sleeping, but it was safer to keep his distance.

"I dunno about that," he commented. "Sure she'd manage it somehow."

"Be assured that she will if you wake her up, as will I."

Surprised, he turned to look at her expression. "Why? What'd I do now?"

"Nothing," said Kelly, simply. "It's just insurance."

"For what?"

"That you'll take a message to Polly for me."

"I've got a phone, if you'd like to-"

"In person," she demanded.

Flash felt himself squirm under her intense stare. "You want me to sneak into the school at this time to tell 'er something you could tell 'er yourself. Might as well tell me ta go creeping in the den of a lion. Least I might have a chance of escaping alive."

"Deliver the message or I wake Ace," said Kelly emotionlessly. She didn't need to sound serious. The thought alone was threatening enough.

Understandably, he looked anything but delighted with the idea. "If you insist-"

"Yes, Flash, I do." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Tell her, 'Diamond'."

Flash blinked at the shortness of the message. "That's it?"

"You don't say, hint or imply you know where we are, and under no circumstances do you tell them she's, with me."

With that, she practically shoved him out of the room and shut the door. Kelly peered off into space for a moment, before coming back down to earth when two eyes opened.

"Is he gone?"

"How long have you been awake then?"

"Since the second he knocked on the door."

"Thought as much."

"Huh?"

"You smiled."

* * *

Josey was thrilled to hear that Kelly's pet had disappeared. No, not thrilled. Not even ecstatic and delighted were strong enough emotions to describe her happiness. As far as she saw it, it was Christmas three months early. The brat had gone, vanished, gone bye-bye, popped out of existence, and no one had any idea where she'd gone. Of course, Josey couldn't care less. She could have been kidnapped by giant pigeons and it wouldn't have changed anything. The fact was she was gone. She'd finally had enough and done a runner. About bloody time!

The lack of CTV footage of her departure was insignificant. It wasn't like it meant anything. Not having it wouldn't do anything except perplex the Geeks. They could use something to puzzle over anyway. Josey welcomed them to it. Think over it as much as you like. She's gone. She's gone!

The only thing preventing her from proclaiming it across the school was the broad smile of victory that had etched itself across her face that refused to do anything else.

Most other students outside Josey's group weren't sure what to think. It seemed extremely odd that Ace had chosen last night of all nights to run off. Nothing made that night any more important than the next or the one before. There'd been no indication of her even planning to go though that wasn't at all odd for most new girls that ran away rarely gave any warning.

Her few belongings still sat neatly beside her bed, the creased sheets indicating that she had slept there. The baseball bat she'd earned continued to lean against the wall. Her laptop was discovered among the bookshelves in the Religious Studies room, the charger plugged in, its battery full. No new content could be found after searching the hard drive. It all looked like she'd just appear out of nowhere at any second, yet even after watching and waiting for over four hundred and ninety three seconds, nothing had happened.

The twins were the quietest they'd ever been, remaining completely silent during breakfast. Sensing their mood, and perhaps sharing their thoughts, the majority of the First Years stopped speaking too, making it a speaking fast. It had been a nice change for about an hour, but as the sun dragged its heels as it made its way across the sky, it grew annoying. It became just too quiet. Taylor, Andrea, nor anyone else could talk sense into them.

"'t's not like not 'alking is gonna bring her back."

"Anyone would think you'd said something to make her leave, you're that sad."

"She probably couldn't hack it anymore."

The last speaker, one of Josey's lot, earned thirty nine glares.

"'Face it, she coulda gone anytime."

The statement broke their silence. "'Cept she's Ace," piped up the twins who walked out before anyone else could speak.

Giving the other a look of shared understanding, the pair raced up to the second floor to the most feared door in the school. Perhaps due to common sense or (possibly more likely) previous experience, one of them pulled out a single strand of hair from their ponytail and moved it towards the door. The hair vanished as the electric current tried to pass through it. The other girl then pulled a pair of rubber gloves seemingly out of nowhere and slipped into them.

"What are you doing?"

The pair dropped to the deck and turned. The sight calmed their racing hearts. Thankfully, it wasn't Kelly who'd caught them.

"Nothing."

"Then what are the gloves for?"

The girl grabbed them but the twin snatched them away. Her fingers brushed their hands and the First Years jumped as every hair on their arms stood up as a weak electric current zapped them. They stared at the girl with wide eyes.

"What you staring at? Get lost."

The twins bolted away.


	26. McKenzie

**Author's Note: Sorry about the wait. Hope the length of this chapter makes up for it (if only a little bit). I still can't believe it's 8000 words, even though I wrote it!**

**Why can't essays be as easy to write?**

**As an unrelated note; Nicholas Courtney, (AKA the Brigadier) has passed away. Rest in peace, Brigadier. **

**Chapter 25**

**McKenzie**

'_It was a no brainer figuring out who'd sent the message.'_

After battling all night to keep her mouth shut and not talk in her sleep again, Ace groggily opened her eyes. Unlike normal, the light was much kinder and less harsh, having struggled enough to slip through the shutters and couldn't be bothered to glare at her. It took longer than usual to recall where she was (In a hotel somewhere around London), how she'd gotten there (Swimming quickly came to mind), what time she was currently in (Clock says 2:15 pm but the date wasn't spelled out as clearly), what she was doing there (Sleeping until recently), why she felt all damp (Swimming, again) and who the figure sleeping on the other lounge dressed in black was (Kelly). It took considerably more time to remember why neither of them had actually used the bed that remained just out of sight, looking neglected. No reason came to mind so Ace chose to ignore it.

What she found hard to ignore was how at ease Kelly appeared to be sleeping sideways a few meters away, stretched out like a cat (Oh, no. Not the cat thinking again. Now she'll never be rid of it). Despite how uncomfortable her clothing must be being near skin tight and possibly still damp, it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. All the makeup had been washed from her face, either by the Thames or the brief clean up she'd done before Flash arrived. Her hair was neater than it had been then and, although it was strange seeing it anything less than immaculate with every hair in place, there wasn't a huge amount of hair to mess up while she slept.

The look of utter peace on her face made Ace think she was sleeping in a super soft Queen sized bed with silk sheets with half a dozen pillows and cushions gathered around her, instead of the narrow, barely softer than the floor lounge that you had to dangle your legs and feet over the edge because it was so short. That what her couch was like, very uncomfortable, but Ace wasn't complaining. Kelly was, after all, taller than her, and would find sleeping like this harder because of that. Ace would never admit it, but she found it nice to not be the one being watched for once. Then the lips moved.

"Been staring long, McKenzie?"

Feeling like a nail being hit on the head repeatedly by a solid steel baseball bat with the added might of an alien power she looked away, more embarrassed about being caught by someone with their eyes closed then just being caught out. "Maybe."

"'Maybe'?" questioned Kelly, her eyes still shut. "Only for the last ten minutes you've been awake."

The only way she could know that if she'd been awake that whole time. How dare she watch her while she slept! That was just plain rude.

"How long have you been watching me?" returned Ace, not to be outdone.

Kelly's shoulder shrugged slightly. Which meant what exactly? Lack of concern? Smugness, because 'I-know-and-you-don't'? No opinion? It felt more like she deliberately wanted to leave her hanging.

"I didn't talk again, did I?" Ace wondered aloud.

"Maybe," she answered flippantly, using the same tone.

Ace groaned, slightly concerned about what she might have said. "What did I say?"

"You made a promise actually."

Oh dear. That's even worse! Once, she'd made a bet with some guy on another planet as a joke, and then he expected her to pay him five quid. The nerve! She hadn't had that much money since she 'got lucky' on the fruit machine back home. Another time she promised not to do something only to find that there was no way she could keep that promise. She felt guilty every time she walked past a milk bar now. How could she have not broken that promise? She had been confined to that store for hours, surrounded by sweets the Candyman would idolise for eternity. Therra chocolate bars were especially addictive.

No, Ace thought to herself. You promised to never think of that chocolate again. You know you'll start getting hungry...

Anyway! She was awfully bad at making and keeping promises. Would this one be the exception?

"What did I say?"

"You said, 'I am going to tell Kelly everything.'"

Up until the end of that sentence, she would have believed her. She picked up the cushion from beneath her head and chucked it at her. "Liar. If I had, I wouldn't have called you Kelly. You're always Kit to me."

Her eyes still shut, Kelly reached for the cushion and threw it back, amazingly on target. "You said you would tell me later. It's later."

Ace stopped smiling and looked away, deep in thought. Kelly immediately picked up on the change of atmosphere and opened her eyes. It was an eerie silence that Ace eventually broke.

"What do you know about me, Kit?" she asked softly. No humour, no more jokes, no more messing about in that tone. "Most of what you think you know isn't true, but it's not because I don't trust you. Don't think that."

Kelly met her eyes as she sat up, listening intently, realising that she was about to spill it all. "What should I think?"

She shrugged. "Dunno. I know at least one of your secrets Kit. But who am I to tell you off about keeping secrets, when I have so many I can't tell?" She shook her head. "I don't fully trust anyone," she admitted, feeling foolish at revealing even a touch of vulnerability.

It felt wrong, to bare an inner part of herself that some might consider their soul to someone. For so long, she'd seen such actions as a weakness. Trusting another with something as delicate and fragile as this, it was begging to be used to the other's advantage or desire, like this part of her had experienced in the past. This was dangerous, reckless, and could easily lead to pain or loss.

Except this time it wasn't some rat faced git with a large, deceptively warm smile. This time she would not be deceived by appearances or false friendship. This time it felt like she was staring at herself in a mirror, a mirror that reflected through the eyes of Head Girl, Kelly Jones. She saw herself, the good, the bad and the fractured, in her. There were differences, yes, but the similarities were numerous enough for even her to own up to sharing. They both valued honesty, both hated to be forced into doing things, both hated being left out, both took their allegiances and loyalty seriously. Neither were perfect, neither were super-geniuses, neither were they comfortable confronting their feelings or expressing them.

Ace knew she trusted only one person almost completely. Not fully. She didn't think she was capable of that. Trust grew slowly, if at all, and she was never utterly free from doubt. She got close, but there was always one little nagging thought that prevented it. Kelly was the same. She could feel it.

"You don't trust many, either," stated Ace. "It's because our secrets could endanger people we care about if we told them."

She knew Kelly understood perfectly despite the lack of verbal acknowledgement. They both hid things, both covered it up, both worried about what might happen if anyone found out. It didn't matter if it wasn't all about aliens and spaceships and time travel, Kelly had things she hid. Not to be selfish, but to protect others.

"Protecting is in our nature. It's a habit, shielding others from things. They mightn't like it, or think they need it, but we do it anyway."

"Yes." A simple three letter word, but the way it sounded it could've been a paragraph, an encyclopaedia entry, an essay, stuffed full of honesty, respect and clarity.

"We won't risk them finding out, because of what might happen," continued Ace. "So we lie, we sneak, we disobey, for them."

See Professor, she thought to herself. I am learning. I'm seeing why I am like I am. I care too much to do as you say. I need to do things. I can't wait around worrying. I take risks so you don't have to.

A thought occurred to her in her brief moment of inner reflection. Isn't that what he did for her? He lies. He sneaks. He disobeys and ignores requests.

"That's what you've been doing all the times you disappeared," Ace said quietly, resuming the one-way discussion. "And that is why I trust you with a secret. You won't burden anyone else."

Kelly nodded, accepting responsibility.

"I can't tell you how or why..." she paused to select her words. "But what I can tell you is that my name is not McKenzie. It's McShane, Ace McShane."

Kelly's eyebrows rose of their own accord, as she remembered seeing that name multiple times on the files Polly and the Geeks had found. They had seemed irrelevant. They had all been forgotten over time, having obtained no new leads. But Kelly hadn't. She rarely forgot anything.

Snippets of the files swarmed through her head like pieces of five different puzzles that somehow fit together.

'_Offender, white female minor… scaled Gabriel Chase's walls and set it alight… Criminal Record # 79,249,183.'_

_CRIMINAL RECORDS BUREAU _

_RECORD # :79,249,183_

_SURNAME MCSHANE_

_NAME/ALIAS: ACE_

They had looked this Gabrielle Chase place up on the Internet. It was this big old mansion, Victorian, in Perivale. Well it was still there, just not much of it left if the pictures on Google were anything to judge by. Speaking of Perivale, Ace had said something about that place.

"_Perivale, where I lived, was boredom capital…"_

Another piece of information that lead to no success. Except her story about the school art block blowing up, apparently by her hand. It had uncannily matched the notes in the Police and Government Files too.

"_I had a mad science teacher… He was complete nuts… never locked the science supply cupboard… this big box… inside was a whole lot of gelignite."_

''_White female minor, attendant of Greenford High School, detonated a liquid Nitroglycerin explosive device… Scientific apparatus and chemicals were found missing from laboratory storeroom... Door latch was non-functional. Small stash of gelignite discovered in possession of male science teacher.'_

They'd all thought this pyromaniac was her mum because of the dates on the files… But that wasn't the truth. Now the jig-saw pieces that meant nothing on their own joined up to make a crazy kind of sense. Not proper sense, but this was the girl sense ran miles to get away from.

"I have heard that name," Kelly finally answered, standing upright.

Ace remained seated, silently surprised. Having never told anyone the real truth about herself before, she had no idea what to expect.

Kelly's feet made no sound as she pattered gently over to her. She halted an arm's reach away from her, and crouched down, taking a close look at the girl whose past had eluded her understanding since the moment she'd spotted her right in the heart of the brawl and throughout her constant research and thought. Only now after weeks of dead ends and no progress, the telling of unexplainable tales, and surprise after surprise did she begin to comprehend what made her so uniquely, incredibly, impossibly, unpredictably her.

The long moment she crouched there, Ace did not move, making herself wait silently for Kelly's response. It took its sweet time coming.

Kelly met her eyes and said, "That makes you old. Very old."

Ace's first reaction was to shout "Hey! I'm not that old!" Then she felt relief flood her. She hadn't run. She hadn't freaked.

Smiling ever so slightly, Kelly peered over all the features on her face, as though they had changed ten seconds ago. "Looking good for thirty," she smirked.

"Shut up," Ace told her.

"Need a lot of moisturiser in the morning?"

Ace just glared.

Kelly's eyes sparkled in amusement. "Old enough to be the twin's moth-"

"La la la la la!" Ace spoke over her, blocking out her hearing with her fingers. "Did you say something, Kit, cause I didn't hear you."

"Chelsea would kill for the name of your surgeon."

She sighed exasperatedly. "I tell you what you wanted to know and that's what you have to say? Gee, thanks Kit."

"Polly'd have a fit if she knew."

"Oh, you have no idea," Ace told her sincerely. A Geek discovering that a time machine existed possibly within her reach, scary. But the Universe might never recover if the First Years ever managed to sneak on board.

* * *

Ace was feeling much better as she soaked in the shower about an hour later. Kelly almost looked her normal self too, having snuck out to the nearest clothes store and bought the first half decent set of clothing she laid eyes on, changing into them at her first opportunity. They were nothing special, just a plain grey shirt and some casual shorts, but she probably didn't want to be seen walking around in those black clothes anymore. Someone might think she was a thief or something...

About that. Kelly has been up to some shady stuff before, and it wasn't just the connection to the suited people and the whole situation Ace had thrown herself into (And it was interesting, so worth every second of missed sleep and sneaking around) that implied this. She began recalling details about their escape last night that suggested this wasn't just a 'once every so often' occurrence.

For starters, she'd had the foresight to wear dark clothes, which meant she'd probably bought them especially for this purpose. The shoes too; they weren't just another pair in her wardrobe. She always wore heels. Her nails were another tell-tale sign. Unlike normal, they weren't red. She'd taken all the polish off, deliberately for this night out. She'd also reacted quickly to the rapidly altering environment around her. You don't just pick that up out of the blue. It's instinctive.

Kelly had done this many times before. She was no stranger to avoiding danger. Neither were the other students and, likely, ex-students, of St Trinian's but Kelly was on another level.

Everything hinted that she worked in the espionage trade. What did that make her? A thief? It was possible, but so was the other alternative. A spy? Kelly had been dead serious when she'd asked her if she was a spy. It wasn't hard to think that. What other logical explanation could anyone come to without adding time travel, aliens and space stuff to it? Had Kelly been worried about that because she thought someone was trying to spy on her?

Now she knew the truth and looked willing to accept it, how did she see her now? Not much differently if the way she spoke and acted were any clues. Good. Ace liked Kelly the way she'd always been. Maybe a tad less seriousness and a tad more humour would be nice, but this'd do.

"Back soon," Kelly said, pocketing the room key and the remaining coins from the phone box whilst Ace rubbed her hair dry with a towel.

"Grab some chips or something," she called after her as the door closed.

Walking down the stairs to the ground floor, Kelly grinned slightly. Does she only ever think about eating? For a second as she walked out of the hotel lobby, she wondered if leaving her alone in the room was a good idea. She'd probably find something constructive- wait, this was Ace, more like destructive- to do. Unless she could somehow make the complimentary soap explode, it'd be perfectly safe to leave here there...

She couldn't... could she?

No. Course not.

Actually...

Better hurry back then. Just some food and a check that Flash had kept his word. Then she was going straight back to confiscate that jacket and its contents.

Kelly didn't know the area that well but, after following the path past shop after shop, she realised that there just weren't any Internet Cafes around Canary Wharf. Whose idea was that? For all the tall glass buildings, there wasn't one place you could borrow a computer for ten minutes. Now she'd have to risk a phone call instead of sending an e-mail. And the Geeks were a lot better at tracing phone calls than anonymous emails. Sadly, there wasn't much choice-

"Forget to bring socks?" interrupted a voice.

"Hmm?" Suddenly brought back to reality, Kelly hurriedly took in the stranger who was looked at her with an odd expression.

"They do say to always bring a pair more than you think you'll need."

"What'd you say?" Kelly asked, confused. This man had obviously mistaken her for somebody because she'd never seen anyone like him before in her life, and she'd remember this guy anywhere. His clothes were bizarre enough without those incredibly deep eyes that tried to piece into your soul.

"You're wet," he answered simply.

She frowned at his frankness.

"Which means nothing, except I can't help but be curious enough to wonder why you shower in your socks," the strange man continued.

"What?" Kelly was well and truly lost by now. Her brain struggled to decipher the meaning of his words. Socks, wet, showering in socks, what?

"Yes, I thought it was surprising too. Therefore you've been swimming," he pauses and looks at her expectantly, as though waiting to be told something.

Both eyebrows reaching for the heavens, she looked him in the eye and said, "I honestly have no idea what you just said." She didn't really care either and started walking away.

He refused to let her go, keeping up with her as he talked. "Do you know how many swimming pools are around here?" he asked, as though she was listening. "None. Therefore, I have a question for you-"

He says 'therefore' a lot, Kelly noticed.

"-why would you swim in the Thames in the middle of winter in your socks?"

Kelly's blood ran cold.

He knew.

The ear-piercing screech of a burglar alarm rang out. The man turned abruptly, and searched for the cause. He turned back ten seconds later, but Kelly was long gone.

* * *

The T.V program (And for the record, 21st Century TV rules! Take that 1980's TV) lost her attention when a shiver ran down her spine. Her hair, although a little damp still, was not the cause, and Ace's heart began to pound. Instinct told her something was about to happen. This place was no longer safe and she needed to get out, and fast. The feeling was confirmed by footsteps running up the stairs along the hall. Adrenaline flooded her veins as she jumped off the couch and gripped the first projectile within reach (The T.V remote). Someone running her way usually meant someone was coming to get her.

Inevitably, the footsteps grew louder as they came closer and closer, until only the wall kept them away from her. The door opened (She should have locked it!), a figure bolted inside and Ace did not hesitate. A dark coloured object hurtled towards the intruder who, just managing to see it coming, ducked down out of the way as it sailed to hit the door behind them with a crack. Clearly startled by the unexpected attack, their eyes scanned the room spotting Ace only when she abruptly rose from behind the lounge, a mug in her hand, ready to fire.

"Ace!"

She froze as she indentified the intruder. Not an intruder at all, but Kelly. Ace released a deep breath. "Don't do that!" she exclaimed, lower her arm and placing the mug on the ground. "Anyone would have thought-"

"We're going. Now," Kelly cut in, dead serious.

Seeing the look and connecting the dots (She'd been right! Trouble was headed their way), Ace grabbed her jacket, her shoes already on. It was as if she'd known she'd be running out of here, thought Kelly as she lead the way out, shutting the door behind her.

Needless to say, Ace didn't ask about the chips.

* * *

Polly stared sightlessly at her computer screen. She'd been doing so since Flash had left in the early hours of the morning. If he hadn't waved at the camera after the quiet security alarm went off, she would have woken the whole dorm to capture the intruder. Luckily no one else had heard it, and boy, hadn't Flash looked relieved when she had explained exactly what had almost been unleashed on him. It was then that he revealed the reason for his visit.

For Flash the message was diamond, lowercase, an ordinary word defined in the dictionary as a valuable jewel usually cut into shape to form pendants and other pieces of jewellery. In Flash's terms, a diamond represented money.

For Polly the message was 'Diamond', capital 'd'; the code word used to prepare an operation to be put into action.

It was a no brainer figuring out who'd sent the message. Only a few knew the code and even fewer had the authority to use it, and even fewer would have someone else deliver the code. In fact there was only one person who'd give the code to Flash and depend on it being delivered.

* * *

Ace fidgeted. It was uncomfortable crouching in the shadows, especially since they were so close now. That and they ran almost three quarters of the way there only to stop, sit and wait. The school was meters away, and only a fence and the grounds separated them from their destination. Yet, they were sitting there doing nothing. It was slowly driving her insane.

"Is there a reason we're standing outside the school instead of going inside? It's going to get dark soon."

Kelly rolled her eyes. She should have known better than to think Ace would keep quieter for such a long period of time. It was a miracle that she'd managed to go without saying anything for the last half an hour. "How else were you planning on sneaking back inside without anyone seeing?"

"Well, I was just gonna…"

"Jump the fence and let everyone see you?" Kelly finished, knowing full well that Ace would do just that if given the chance.

"Well... Yeah…" responded Ace, sheepishly.

Maybe it wasn't the best solution. But she was getting bored. Waiting is boring and remaining secretive didn't justify doing nothing for such a long time. If she didn't have to sneak in it would be so much easier…

Ding! A light bulb ignited inside her head. "Wait! Why should I be sneaking back inside?" She turned to Kelly. "They mightn't have even noticed that I've gone."

"I somehow doubt it," was the deadpan reply.

"Why?" she asked, curious.

"You're not exactly inconspicuous."

She took it as a compliment. "Thank you. So, me sneaking in would be strange." She paused, thinking. "Wouldn't they'd think more about why I did that instead of-"

Ace abruptly ran the short open stretch and vaulted up onto the fence. Kelly leapt to her feet, reaching her hand out to drag her back but stopped just short of the clearing and kept in the shadows, frowning severely as Ace landed on the other side.

"-this," Ace finished under her breath, grinning slightly as she made her way towards the building. Kelly thinks things through too much. Action is a much more effective and interesting way of getting stuff done.

On the other side of the fence, concealed by foliage and unseen by any of the multiple perimeter cameras, a figure shook her head.

* * *

There are multiple ways in and out of the dorm. Most prefer the stairs because they are easily accessible, have less chance of causing bodily harm and don't require sensible enclosed shoes. Of course Ace would choose the safest, most visible, least creative route, right? Wrong! After relying on your senses and instinct to get you out of trouble and danger for the last few hours, you can't just switch straight back to normal.

That is if you consider Ace's usual behaviour and habits 'normal' (A matter of great debate).

"Anyone home?" called Ace, slinking in through a window. Most of the Geeks jumped, but a few (including Polly) kept their cool (They had seen her coming after all).

"Ace," greeted Polly, and the newcomer nodded acknowledging at her before finding herself tackled to the ground by two medium sized unidentified flying objects.

"Ace!"

"Where have you been?"

"We couldn't find you anywhere!"

Ace laughed. "I'm not even allowed to go out anywhere on my own anymore?" she joked.

They shook their heads and, after a quiet complaint from underneath them, got up to let her stand. While the room greeted her with either 'Hey' or 'Good to see you', another entered and blinked at the sight.

"The runaway returns," jibed a voice. "What a pity."

Ace didn't even need to turn to know what expression that speaker had displayed. "Oh, Josey, I had almost started to miss that scorn of yours and now I see it again. What a shame it's so soon."

Josey sneered and walked off, making an intense effort to make each of her echoing footsteps loud enough to rival an elephant just to annoy the other girls.

"Gee, was she like this the whole time I was gone?" commented Ace, staring after her.

The twins disagreed. "Worse."

Josey, worse than this? It was too horrible to even think about. However there was one thing on her mind that, after waiting to be addressed for several hours, demanded attention.

"So…" she began, "when's dinner? I'm starving."

* * *

Ace didn't know what to think when she woke the early the next day to find the whole dorm swamped in darkness. Having woken up to some pretty odd things lately, she cautiously watched her surroundings for danger (Just look at her track record; trouble loved catching her out). Luckily, the only one present was falling over something in the dark, as other girls quickly found out. After several fruitless attempts to bring light to this forsaken corner of the school, it appeared that the light bulbs had been removed. Strange objects and shadows that hadn't been there when she closed her eyes clung to the walls and hung from odd places, and screams and squeals pierced the air whenever a slightly squeamish girl encountered one unexpectedly.

Most of the corridor and stairway was identical. If the cobwebs that coated every surface (Even the roof) were to hint at anything it seemed like giant human sized spiders had crept inside last night, which, in Ace's world, was quite probable. Honestly if people-sized cheetahs walking on their hind legs existed, then massive alien spiders weren't as preposterous as first thought.

Half a minute of marvelling the abrupt transformation of the school's interior, a pack (Or herd, or tribe, or bunch or a whole lot) of Emos raced up the stairs, their faces covered by black, red and white masks, yelling at the top of their lungs. Ace immediately flung herself behind the nearest defensive structure. It didn't matter if she was their target or not, she knew she was far safer where she was rather than between an Emo and their quarry.

Fortunately, they passed her by without casting a single glance her way. Heading in the opposite direction to the mob of Emos, Ace encounter several bunker-like creations constructed to keep the assaulting girls out. The outsides had been bombarded with glitter, splatters of black paint from burst paint bombs, crazy sticky stuff that came from a can and plastic spiders.

The Emos sudden change in behaviour created mixed reactions amongst the other groups who'd taken shelter. The Chav's groaned as the safe house was attacked yet again, the Posh Totties had long since fled to some unknown place of safety (Apparently their sanctuary, AKA prison, of a closet had been violated. Bet they used the drainpipe to get in), the Geeks clutched computer gear having locked up as much of everything else in safes in the basement. They had all seen it coming, but Ace remained completely clueless to the cause until a large banner stretched across the wall caught her eye.

Oh, thought Ace as she read it. Right.

Only when she finally understand the Emos excitement did she take in the fake bats hanging from the ceiling, the black and red crete paper that snaked around, through and over everything and the skeletons (some looking distinctly like a few memorable Chavs) that lined the walls.

October the 31st. Halloween, although the date was even more significant to Ace.

It was her birthday.

It hadn't felt like it when she'd woken up but she'd lost track of the days recently. In fact, if it hadn't coincided with Halloween, she wouldn't have even noticed.

A paint bomb blindsided her and went 'splat' against her cheek. Red paint dripping like blood down the side of her face, Ace felt herself shaking and laughing so hard that her stomach hurt. Taking a breath to compose herself and discard her jacket into a safe spot out of the way, she gathered as many projectiles she could and ran out into the open, sidestepping past the Emos posted there.

They were startled to say the least. Giving Andrea an encouraging smirk, she scooped up a paint bomb and chucked it towards the slight gap in the Chav's defence. Her aim couldn't have been any more perfect as it split as it hit the crack and burst all over the face of the girl peering through. Having shown her temporary allegiance to them Ace received high fives all around, half a dozen more bombs and a black mask with a red strike across the left eye. Donning the mask, Ace assisted the Emos in driving the cowering girls out into the open.

Instead of chasing after the retreating enemy, she followed the Emos up the stairs to another vantage point to redistribute their supplies. She listened closely to their plan of attack but stopped when she caught sight of a target she couldn't turn down. Clicking her fingers to snatch their attention, she waved her finger to the window and discreetly pointed. The girls didn't take much convincing; any Chav was a welcome target. Five in one spot was just begging for an ambush.

Adding her own voice to the battle cry, Ace threw bomb after bomb onto the ground. The projectiles fell relentlessly until one containing black paint burst right on Josey's head. While she fumed, Ace jumped out of hiding and pulled up her mask.

"Happy Halloween, Josey!" she bellowed, then disappeared back into the shadows.

* * *

Hasn't this been a great birthday, Ace smirked to herself after sneaking away to the dorm just after dinner. Spending some quality time with Kelly, having regular meals, lobbing paint at Josey; ah, this was the life.

She was too tired to join the Emos in their late night assault, much to their disappointment. Having flopped onto her mattress, Ace couldn't be bother moving to make herself more comfortable. It was, maybe, seven, yet she was exhausted. She just hadn't caught up on her sleep because it kept being interrupted by people. Hopefully she'd be able to get back up again after a little nap. She lay there with her eyes shut, appreciating the completely silence for a while (A miracle!) before sensing that someone was standing nearby. It wasn't just anyone either.

"Go away," she grumbled, but the presence did not do as asked and remained somewhere in the darkness. She jerked her arms about in their direction, trying to swat them away like a fly, but failed to make contact. "I know it's you, Kit. I can hear you. You're wearing heels and walking on floorboards."

"You know I don't approve of that nickname," spoke a voice in the dark.

"True, but if the shoe fits..." Ace sighed, giving up. She opened her eyes. "It's sad really," she sighed.

"What is?"

"Me. I'd completely forgotten it was Halloween, you know? I knew it was almost November but… You'd think I'd remember my own birthday."

Kelly looked surprised. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Today's been one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time, particularly since it was kinda a party and Halloween in one," she said honestly. "Seventeen," she whistled in awe, still not quite able to believe it. "Sometimes I wondered if I'd ever get there."

She smiled for a moment, waiting for Kelly to snatch the date and rub her 'real' age in again. When that didn't happen, she frowned, confused. She's normally pretty quick. Must be a bit off today.

"Another year then you won't have to use fake I.D."

Ace smirked. "Yeah, maybe I'll have a real one by then."

"You'll have to make do with this for next time," answered Kelly flinging a thin plastic card at her. Blinking, Ace picked it up, stared at it then groaned in realisation.

"Not again! Why, Kit, why do I keep getting roped into this kind of stuff?" she moaned. "Can't you guys find someone else?"

Kelly appeared to ponder the idea for a second then turned serious again. "Nope."

"Well I won't do it," Ace told her, crossing her arms. "You can go tell Taylor to quit dreaming and do it herself."

"It's not that bad-"

"Ah," Ace pretended to consider it, "yes it is."

"It'll be worse staying here," Kelly tried to reason.

"You're just saying that."

"Perhaps," she admitted.

"I'm not doing it. You'll have to put up with Taylor."

Kelly shuddered involuntary.

"What?" demanded Ace.

She hesitated as she considered what to say. "She drives worse than you."

Ace let out a short laugh. Oh, that'd be right. The girl who criticised her driving sucks even more than she does. "Why do you even go out in the first place? Why not stay here? You wouldn't even have to pay for it."

"McKenzie, the point is not to go out for the sack of getting drunk," explained Kelly, "although it does happen."

Ace scoffed. "I'll say. Has Chelsea forgiven Andrea for spewing all over her shoes yet?"

Kelly smirked for a moment. "It's a chance to get away, and it's a privilege that you've been invited."

Invited? Funny sort of invitation. "Not like I can decide whether I want to go or not," retorted Ace.

"But," Kelly continued, "you can choose how you're going to be about it. You can grudgingly come, be miserable the whole time and then take us back, or decide that you'll make the best of it and possibly enjoy it."

Ace's eyes narrowed. Bah! Why does she have to sound so much like the Professor when she talks like that?

"If I must," she finally replied.

Kelly gifted her with a slight smile and offered her a bottle of whiskey. The homemade stuff, Ace noted, Trinski. She'd yet to taste it as the girls guarded it well. It was their main source of income after all. She took a sip. Tasted all right, just a hint of... The back of her mouth suddenly felt like it'd caught fire and she coughed as she struggled not to choke on it. Gee, wouldn't that impress Kelly. But whoa! It was incredibly…

The room swam and then dimmed.

* * *

Kelly didn't even blink when Ace suddenly collapsed.

"Took your time," commented Andrea, entering the dorm.

"But was it necessary?" Polly asked as she and every other girl in the school appeared from around the corner.

"Well how else were ya gonna do it?" asked Taylor. "Ask nicely?"

"No," the Geek defended. "It's just..."

"Polly scared of an Ace temper tantrum?" Andrea taunted. "Polly worried about getting her glasses broken?"

Polly rolled her eyes. "Doubt you'll be laughing if you're the one Ace goes after."

The idea hadn't occurred to her and Andrea looked shocked. "Me? Why would she think it was me?"

"They were your sleeping pills," reminded Polly.

"She'll blame you first."

"There won't be anything for anyone to be blamed for if we don't get a move on," Kelly announced. "Get to it."

"Yes 'Kit'," the girls chimed in at once, and Kelly shot them all dirty looks.

* * *

The distant throb of a headache preceded Ace awakening. She suddenly bolted upright, scaring blurry figures into shrieking. She gasped for breath. "Woah!" she cried. "That was some strong stuff!"

It was then that the swarm of faces (A lot of faces) came into focus. The crowd held its breath and could almost hear Ace's brain clicking back into gear.

"What," Ace began slowly, "are you doing?"

Half the group turned to the side and started whistling, hardly innocent looking. Because it wasn't obvious at all, turning away and whistling when strange things had happened. Several strands of something brown on the floorboards caught her eye.

"Is that-," A thunder cloud and a lightning bolt crackled into being above the furious girl's head, "-my hair?"

They were dead. They were dead. They were oh so very dead and buried. They'd drugged her, played hairdressers and cut it. Cut her hair. In half! She only had half of the usual amount of hair! No one messes with anything that was part of the 'Ace' image.

Something slunk behind her. A draft carried a soft tone into her ear. "Play along, McKenzie. Play along."

Hoping her trust in the judgment of that voice was true, Ace closed her eyes, and, with a long meaningful sigh, found enough inner strength to bottle her rage and release every single muscle in her body from excruciating tenseness. The room was silent when she opened them slowly.

"Is that all?"

Countless pairs of eyes blinked at her.

"You haven't done anything else, have you?"

They briefly struggled to understand until an unseen figure behind Ace gave them the nod. Cheers burst out, and Ace found she was no longer worried. The worst had already happened. What more could they do?

She changed her mind a minute later.

"No," Ace told them flatly. "I said, no."

The Emos held her beloved jacket and scissors, eyes pleadingly

"No. You do not touch the jacket."

Even they could not deny the authority of that tone. Instead, Ace found herself tugged along by the mob of First Years. She almost sneezed when something that smelt and felt like paint was flicked onto her face. It probably was paint too because they broke out paintbrushes seemingly from nowhere and dabbed different colours everywhere. It tickled when they painted over her nose, and the constant tugging from both sides of her head hurt, but she didn't complain. However, she was relieved when she was finally handed a mirror to see their handiwork.

A thin messy plait hung above each ear and strikes of blue, green and purple zigzagged down both sides of her nose and across her cheeks. It looked… colourful and wild. The mirror was taken from her as the First Years all turned to Kelly. Kelly carefully observed her face then shook her head slightly. The First Years sighed, a bit disappointed. Ace didn't have time to figure out why before she was whisked away into the Chav's corner.

It was extremely strange sitting in her enemy's territory, but despite the many glares and occasional remarks from Josey, she wasn't attacked. Strangely, not all the Chavs were as aggressive towards her. Sure Taylor was snappy (and kept roping her into doing stuff for her!) but they didn't hate her. In fact apart from Josey, they were oddly accepting of her presence as though they all thought 'Yeah, you're not too bad, but don't get cocky'.

The group quickly removed the paint and layered facial product after facial product on. It felt like a big ask when she was told to close her eyes. Making note of how far away Josey was in case she had to block a punch to the face or something, she relented and seconds later when they'd done, she snapped her eyes open to find Josey watching her. She hadn't moved, but Ace didn't let her leave her sight for too long. It didn't matter how nice the others were, she wouldn't trust her with safety scissors.

When shown her reflection, Ace nearly dropped the mirror. What had they done to her face? It looked like there wasn't anything Ace left at all! Lots of makeup, lots of fake jewellery, glittery lip-gloss and hamster sized earrings; it was definitely alien. The transformation hadn't hurt, but the girl in the mirror looked startling like a Chav, not Ace. Kelly seemed to agree and the Posh Totties clapped with delight. Ace's heart sank and whimpered.

Oh no, no, please, no. No!

Ace's eyes bore into Kelly's, pleading for mercy, but Kelly shrugged and abandoned her to the unthinkable horrors that lurked where the creatures in the form of the Totty trio gathered.

They were armed and ready (Hey! Hair straighteners and curling wands are deadly, you know!), and swiftly surrounded her, cutting off any hope of escape. Ace longed for nothing more than to melt into the chair beneath her.

"Fearless Ace, terrified by the Posh Totties," sneered Josey, finding amusement in her horrific circumstances.

"Oh, shut up, Josey!" Ace snapped. "There's a bucketful of black paint heading your way very soon."

With the calm collectedness Ace doubted she'd ever obtain, Kelly waltzed across the room to stand behind Josey. A glint in her eye, she softly threatened, "You wouldn't want to find yourself cornered by the First Years in a dark corridor now would you?"

Ace beamed like a full moon when Josey paled and immediately backed off.

The Totties took their sweet time to do whatever they were doing, but they were finally satisfied with the end result and surrendered the mirror. Ace froze.

Oh.

My.

God.

I look like a Totty!

Perfectly manicured nails, light but effective layer of makeup, bright lipstick, wavy hair; in fact the only things weren't 'Tottied' up was the gaping mouth of disbelief and the wide eyes that accompanied it. Thankfully, Kelly took one look at her, blinked twice as if blinded by a truck's high beam lights and immediately shook her head. She did have a heart after all.

The Geeks rescued her and began the long procedure of Totty-removal. After cleaning off all remains and memory of the last transformation, the many hands pulled all her hair together to form one of the symbols of 'Geek-ness'; the practical bun. After gently placing round, gold rimmed glasses onto her face, Ace was permitted a glance. Not a hair was out of place, no more bright colours, very simple look, but the glasses were overkill in her opinion. Made her look way too smart, nearly Professor smart, and she couldn't see properly. Everything looked blurry.

Kelly seemed to reserve judgement this time (Although she subtly removed the glasses so Ace could actually see). The Emos took over from there. Having learnt that day that they were, in fact human and not strange dark magicians, Ace was able to relax a bit more around them. They took her hair out again and left it alone, and alternated between black and red nail polish for each finger.

When handed the mirror she saw that her face hadn't been let off as easily as her hair had. Thick black eyeliner and mascara was plastered around her eyes and a shape that might have been the letter 'A' seemed to leak from the corner of an eye. Her lips were a curious brown colour too. It was a very odd sight, but compared to the Totties and the Chav's work, it didn't seem as bad.

Kelly disagreed and signalled for the make-up to be removed. A minute later, Celia was summoned over. The girl's head tilted to the side as she stared off into space for a solid minute. Ace stole glances at some of the others around her but they just waited. Suddenly life glittered back into Celia's eyes and she pulled out various odd instruments and objects from a bag, including a fine toothed comb and silver scissors.

"Turn," instructed a voice that sounded like Celia except incredibly focused as if possessed.

A shiver running down her spine, Ace took one look at the girl, who didn't have power-hungry or yellow eyes, then obeyed. For a second, nothing happened and she wondered if she'd drifted off to dream land again. Then the comb ran through her hair once, twice, then a dozen times, and she picked up quiet snipping in her ears as tiny strands of hair fell to the wooden floor. The sound and combing quickened and she began to worry about the amount of hair that would be left on her head if someone didn't stop the hairdresser.

Celia abruptly, as if hearing her thoughts, came round to face her then made some minor adjustments to the sides of her head before lowering the scissors to begin brushing the loose hair off her.

"Close your eyes."

Feeling a whole lot safer knowing the scissors were now out of reach, Ace tried to picture what she'd see the next time she saw her reflection. Hopefully not bald, or with great big chunks of hair missing. Something was applied to her face while someone pulled at her hair while someone else was doing something to her nails. Mumbles filled the air and Ace tried to sneak a peek but got jabbed for Celia was trying to put eye-shadow on her. She huffed impatiently, but sat still and didn't try it again. An age later a wooden handle was shoved into her hand.

"Open."

She did and was at a loss of words.

"Well?" inquired Kelly, sounding ever so slightly smug.

Ace could barely speak. "Wow," she managed hoarsely.

"I think she likes it," said Kelly, and the room chuckled softly.

In the mirror, Ace's eyes shone with an inner golden light, but not the Cheetah eyes that she first feared she saw. Light blue eye shadow brought out the natural flecks of gold from her deep brown eyes. The long brown ponytail that she'd grown accustomed to no longer existed. In its place was a folded bandana that kept the shortest bits of hair off her face, leaving the rest to fall as it pleased. The longest section of her hair just touched the collar of her shirt. Plain red lipstick then drew her attention before noticing her nails were painted the same shade. A familiar black and white scarf was hung loosely tied around her neck.

She fingered the scarf. She remembered being given this last time they went out but it hadn't meant anything to her then. Not anymore. Since then she had noticed that every girl in the room had a scarf just like this one incorporated into their 'look', but it was more that. It wasn't just part of the 'uniform' that wasn't really enforced. It was a symbol, possibly the symbol of the school and they'd seen it fit for her to wear it.

That meant so much to Ace. Grudging respect was one thing, but acceptance was a whole different book. That's what this whole thing was about.

And there was one more thing. They were awaiting a response.

"It's wicked!" Ace announced.


	27. The Awful Sweater

**Author's Note: **This was originally going to be 2 chapters, but I combined them. It reads better that way. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! :D A friend of mine helped me with a section of this. I won't say what bit, but they gave me a few pointers.

Really getting into the plot now. (To those who can guess what the chapter name means, I hope the chapter is a good as you hope)

Enjoy.

**Chapter 26**

**The Awful Sweater**

'_Then it dawned on her that she wasn't asking the right question.'_

It would probably be incredibly strange to wake up staring at a ceiling covered in black streamers and plastic spiders. But strange was ordinary to Ace, although a splitting headache wasn't quite as normal, not in recent times that is. As her head throbbed, flashbacks of memory flickered like an old fashioned black and white movie. After a few minutes of staring into space, some recollection came to her and she couldn't help but grin.

"Best birthday ever," Ace announced.

The room greeted the compliment with a mixture of grunting agreement and plain moaning. The others were feeling just as bad as she did after partying all night and half the early morning. When these girls say 'party' they don't stop till they drop.

A low chuckle made her wince as it was like a half tuned radio channel right now. "Morning girls."

"Hmmmm, mmnn hmmmhm," echoed the room in a feeble attempt to answer.

"It seems like we have a new record holder for the most shots of Trinski before becoming unconscious," Miss Fritton continued, sounding proud of the achievement despite the fact that drinking competitions should be discouraged. "A mind-boggling six and a half shots."

Congrats to them, thought Ace groggily. They'd be suffering for a while, because Ace knew it had to be at least four times as bad as she was feeling, and that was pretty damn awful. They'd wish they were dead.

"Well done Ace."

Huh? Did someone say my name, she wondered to herself. I could have swore she said... Me? I won something? A drinking competition? Well, I'm not stupid enough to do that. Although... she couldn't quite remember how much she had drunk. She'd had less than six though. Maybe, two, three... number after three...

"Seven actually," corrected Kelly, appearing from the door. The Head Girl either had been faking every time she took a swig last night or could flush liquor out of her system impossibly fast for she didn't so much as stumble over the numerous discarded bottles that turned the room into an obstacle course.

"Seven!" exclaimed Miss Fritton. "A miracle!"

Funny idea of a miracle. Ace sure didn't feel like much of a miracle. Felt more like she'd just been half eaten, found too tough then spat out by the devil.

"We did catch the whole thing on camera, yes?"

"Of course, Miss," piped in the Twins who'd been the bartenders all night long and, luckily, escaped any killer hangovers from the little bit they had drunk (Whenever Kit hadn't been watching, which didn't happen very often. Seems like the pair had a history of sneaking sips). "Taylor and Andrea went down like flies after the third glass, and she was still sober enough to walk in a straight line."

"Cheater…" muttered Andrea. Seeing her slumped like that with weird eyes, it almost justified Taylor referring to her as a zombie (Although, the twins hinted it was a little more than that. Something about being stuck in a coffin...).

"Nu-uh," Ace defended. "Believe me, two shots of Trinski is like one where I last drank like that." Except she wasn't feeling too good right now.

Miss Fritton gazed at her, liking what she'd heard. "Really? Where was that?"

Iceworld, but Ace swallowed the name and the contents of her stomach. "Uh… I think they closed down."

"What a pity."

"Nah. Couldn't walk for the next eight hours," admitted Ace. That had been bad. Very, very bad.

"Oh," said Miss Fritton quietly, sounding slightly disappointed to hear the place had closed. "Well, someone better get her upstairs to sleep it off."

"At least I'm not driving tomorrow," murmured Taylor with an evil smirk.

Ace, sensing she had missed something, tried to think. What was tomorrow? Four First Years rose and helped her support her own weight as they started half carrying, half pushing her to the dorm.

"And I have to find Matron for my twenty pounds," finished the Headmistress as she disappeared, a gleeful smile beginning to form.

She continued to ponder until she was put down in the dorm. Something about tomorrow... It hit her like a blow from a super charged baseball bat.

"Oh…"

Right. She was going out, and driving. Oh, man! She'd forgotten about that. When she gets up and walk right, Taylor is so going to get it.

"Oi, Ace!"

"What?"

"Got somethin' for ya."

Gee not another Trinski joke. She'd responded to enough of them last night. Ace considered shaking her head but that just aggravated her pounding headache. "No. No more. I ain't drinking another pint for at least twelve hours."

"Not that," giggled a First Year, clearly having a better memory of last night than Ace did. "This."

A package was thrown from person to person until it was in her hands. Examining it, she concluded that it was cardboard, quite large and had possibly eight rolls of Sellotape wrapped around it.

"What is it?" Ace asked, a bit suspicious. Was this another of the 'initiation' tests or dares, because if it was anything like when she had to- Wait! She'd almost broken the oath! 'Never speak or even think about the challenges'. The others had been dead serious about that, so serious that Kit had looked the most amused of the lot (Except when Taylor had called her 'Kit'. She had not been happy).

The First Year shrugged. "Sent through the post. Stamps and everything. Got your name on it."

Ace put the parcel down. She'd get round to it. Right after she rested her eyes for a second...

* * *

"...you think it's a good idea, opening it?"

"Course it is! Haven't you heard how much money the twins are offering for the secret ingredients? 60 quid!"

"Did ya say 60? You're joking!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Give it here then!"

"Hey! I had dibs first!"

What are they yelling about? Ace didn't really care less. She just wanted it to stop, right now. She let out a bellow. "Oi!"

The commotion stopped abruptly.

"See, now you've woke her up! Great job, weirdo!"

"You said she's be out for at least another two hours! After seven shots, there's no way-"

Eyes closed, Ace interrupted loudly, "You have five seconds to get your sorry butts out of here before I get up and catch you!"

She heard two audible gulps. That's right. They remembered the Geeks calculation. She could run the entire length of the dorm in ten seconds. Admittedly that was when she was sober, but neither were these too.

"You heard her! You take it, vampire!" shouted a voice.

"No way! It's too heavy! She'll catch me!"

"So you don't want the 60 quid?"

"I'd rather live, thanks!"

"Five..." Ace began.

After a few moments of awful noise as they tripped, leapt and bolted from the dorm, silence greeted her again. Ahh! Much better... Oh, oh. That tingling feeling again called curiosity had griped her again. She found she couldn't stop thinking about what they'd been talking about. It can wait. She didn't need to find out right now...

With a groan, she jerked herself upright and her eyes flew open. Gosh, the dorm was a mess this morning. Something on the floor beside her bed looked more interesting than the chaotic dorm. Medium sized cardboard box with more stamps than her jacket had badges, and that was saying something. According to the stamps it had been to New York, Paris, Spain, Rome, South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand, Madagascar, Russia... The list went on but Ace had stopped counting them and started paying attention to each individual one. There was something... odd about it. Not just the abundance of stamps but there was her instincts were tingling.

She blinked. Check again. She did and blinked again, rubbed her eyes and really looked at the stamps again. The dates were all different. They were a combination of old and new. Most were at least twenty years old. Surely, whoever bought the stamps back then would have used them by now, unless...

They were a stamp collector who'd decided to give up hoarding and use them. No, that couldn't be it. The alcohol's clouding your mind Ace, she told herself. This is important. There has to be another reason. She stopped to think. Thinking... Thinking... Think-

Oh, forget it! She'll never find out what's inside it without opening it.

Taking off the excessive Sellotape and opening the flaps, Ace found another slightly smaller box inside with a post-it note attached. She carefully peeled it off and began deciphering the elaborate calligraphy.

'_In case trouble finds you. It usually does.'_

Hey! What were they trying to say?

An extremely fancy question mark had been scribbled on the bottom. Ace's headache and nausea vanished abruptly. The Professor! The first contact she'd had with him since arriving here and he'd sent a present? She didn't remember ever telling him when her birthday was. She pulled the other box out and opened it. What had he sent her?

Bubble-wrap lined the inside of the box and, after spending a few seconds popping some of it, she noticed something was wrapped in it. Her already pleased face beamed at the sight of a familiar canister. Nitro 9! One of the originals too. They don't make cans like this now.

She wondered how he had found it. The TARDIS was a very big place, and Ace had found several well hidden places to store some of her prized possession. Sometimes, she hid them too well that she couldn't find them again unless she stumbled upon them (Always a pleasant surprise). Was this one of the lost ones? It dawned on her that she wasn't asking the right question. The multi-billion dollar question was why it was here.

The Professor detested her explosives. He often threatened to chuck them out into space if he found them on board the TARDIS. He hadn't ever done it, but she often found that her store had been raided and several cans had been confiscated when she didn't hide them well enough (Ace had a sneaky suspicion he participated in a kind of Easter Egg/Nitro hunt from time to time and relocated them some place for future use). He strongly disapproved of her carrying them around with her, and yet he had wrapped this can up gently to avoid setting it off and sent it to her, knowing full well that she had likely smuggled some out with her anyway (especially since he was so determined to stop her from getting it out. It made things more difficult, but a bit more enjoyable too).

This either meant his views on explosives had changed since dropping her here (which was so unlikely that the moon turning to cheese, pigs flying and Josey and herself being best friends would all happen before this did) or the other option. Ace didn't want to consider the other option. She wanted to shove it right out of her mind but given the probability of the first option she was forced to think of it.

Despite the intention of this place being an environment where Ace could finish her education (Cough, cough. You couldn't deny that it was the perfect place for it), maybe that wasn't the case at all. Everything began to turn darker. The high of yesterday wore off and it wasn't just the hangover that clouded her thoughts. The arrival of this can of Nitro said much more than 'Have fun whilst blowing stuff up'. It was a warning.

There were only 3 occasions that she ever got away with blowing something up; when he never found out, when he was unable to stop it and had no time to reprimand her for it because the whole world/fabric of reality itself was about to die/collapse (Happens more often than you'd think), or when he had needed her to. Right now was the last of these occasions.

The gift said volumes more than the note did, as he had intended. You shouldn't need Nitro in a school (It does make things much more interesting though), you need Nitro when stuff was about to, or was, going down.

'_In case trouble finds you…'_

He knew that something wasn't right here, but wasn't able to do anything about it or even tell her what it was. And the times he never told her always turned out to be the most risky and dangerous of the lot.

Which guaranteed that things were about to get very interesting.

* * *

Ace tried to forget about the message. It was hard and easy at the same time. She was having a ball at this club. Not the same place as before. Ace preferred it here. Her new look might have played a slight role in that. Unlike last time, she had chosen what to wear and not been forced into anything she didn't want to. This look was growing on her, and it made her look older too. She rather liked it. However she kept being drawn back to the sinking feeling in her gut that not everything was as it seems. It had always been there, actually, but it had taken the note for her to really notice it. She attempted to put the feeling down to the nature of the secretive and often shady business that went on at the school. 'Attempted' being the key word.

Twenty past nine. Time for the scheduled headcount. Taylor was in amongst the group of people on the dance floor (One), Andrea was at the bar (Two) ordering another pint of vodka (Trinski was all well and good, but it had a wickedly bitter aftertaste), Chelsea and Chloe (Peaches hadn't recovered from the party so had stayed behind) were chatting up a pair of blokes (Four), leaving only Kelly. Finding her was much like a real life 'Where's Wally' game. Your gaze could occasionally slide over her. Oh, there she was, with Taylor in the crowd.

All good. All normal. Everyone was safe and accounted for.

So why did she feel so twitchy all of a sudden?

A voice wafted through the music and loud conversation. It held her attention for three seconds before fading away as her ears strained to pick up on it again. When she heard it for the second time, she told herself she was hearing things. Hallucinations had to be yet another side effect of Trinski (Prolonged blurry vision, splitting headache, unsettled stomach, unable to construct sentences longer than eight words, laughing uncontrollably then stopping abruptly, ect). That's what it was. Although, Gorden Bennet, it looked and sounded authentic enough to be mistaken for the real deal.

As the minutes dragged on, she slowly began to have second thoughts. Catching snippets continuously didn't help. She found herself peering through the bodies of people moving to the beat, and changed her mind. No, this was no trick. This was real, bizarrely so, but real. She wondered why no one else seemed to notice. The umbrella alone should have drawn some attention, but missing the straw hat was impossible.

Unlikely as it was, he appeared to blend into the crowd. Almost. Several people took double takes after seeing the odd question marks stitched across the front of his sweater. He looked almost like a hippy, and the image made Ace grimace. First chance she got that sweater would mysteriously disappear into the nearest black hole or supernova she found.

That said, he was searching for someone, so, naturally thinking it was her, she snuck over.

"You ok?" she asked, sounding smug, but he didn't even turn to face her.

"Yes, yes," he replied, "I was just..." His voice sounded a bit weary as though the atmosphere was draining his strength. It was quite humid in here.

"What are you doing here?"

He glanced towards the bar and shook his head. "Not for a drink. Can't stand the taste of rotten fruit and froth flavouring."

She kept her near empty bottle of vodka hidden behind her, placing it on the next table they passed. No need to draw attention to it, was there?

Seeing her hurry after him, he said, "Do you mind? I'm in a bit of a rush."

Alright Mr Moody, she thought sourly. "Fine then."

She turned deliberately and wandered off a little, having no intention of leaving him alone. He'd surely start a brawl in his sour mood and end up with a punch to the face and the gut. And who would be the one to drag his sorry behind out of there? Her of course. Except he was pretending not to know her, the nerve of him.

If he wants to ignore me, I'll follow him just to annoy him, she decided.

For the next minute and a half, she shadowed him from a distance, thinking he didn't even notice. Correction came swiftly as he suddenly turned and walked straight at her.

"I don't know why you're still here."

"Maybe if you just talked to me-" she started to retort but he interrupted her with a wave of his hand.

"I'm just looking for someone and need to find them rather urgently. So if you would mind..."

Huh, thought Ace. A friend? Here? He never mentioned any friends in the 21st Century that he wanted to visit. Was this the real reason he'd dropped her at the school?

Unaware of her thoughts, he was suddenly struck by an idea. "Actually, you might have met someone I know. I'd like to find her too, if possible."

Her? A she? Ace's eyes narrowed as she glared at him. He did make friends everywhere he went, but a girl who he was just happening to be meeting while she wasn't around? That was very different and it wasn't a very convincing coincidence, Professor. Did this explain the sinking feeling she'd had? He was going about with someone else whilst finding trouble, leaving her behind, safe and out of the way. Well, she was gonna have a few words with this girl, whoever she was.

"Brown hair, brown eyes, multitalented, a bit snappy when annoyed..."

When it clicked Ace fought hard to contain her snorts. Another girl, who had she trying to kid? He had been looking for her, probably only just realising that he needed her help after all, and had no clue it was her he was talking to. The idiot.

She eased off her stare a bit, as though considering who he'd described. "About so tall?" she asked, holding a hand out at her own height. "Straight to the point?"

He smiled, pleased. "You have seen her. Do you know where I could find her?"

Was he always this thick? She opened her mouth to ask him when a loud bang occurred.

"I think I just did," the Professor said as he dashed towards the sound.

He was hopeless. Hopeless. That wasn't an explosion. That was the sound of a champagne bottle being uncorked! Honestly! He had genuinely looked like he didn't know her, though. Had he suddenly gone blind or something? Why, if he couldn't pick conspicuous and obvious, 1980's her out of a group of 21st Century people in a club then there was simply no hope for the little, manipulative git...

Except she wasn't the same conspicuous 1980's Ace in appearance now was she?

Oh.

OH!

Of course! She blended in here because of her new look. He was so used to how she always looked that he didn't recognise her as the girl he dropped off a month ago. She longed to grab him by the back of the collar and laugh at him, but he was too busy looking for the 'old' Ace, the Ace with the boots, the ponytail and the black, leather badge-covered jacket. Having an idea about how to fix that, she snuck behind the counter and snatched a jacket then disappeared into the bathroom. Pulling her hair into a hurried, messy ponytail and wearing the very large jacket, she exited.

It took him exactly eight seconds to spot her. She counted.

"There you are," he exclaimed. "I just saw this girl, she said she knew you. I thought she'd gone, but she went and found you."

She resisted the overwhelming urge to laugh. The difference a large jacket and change of hairstyle made was almost comical. "I got your message, but it wasn't very clear about what exactly was going on."

He frowned and stepped closer to examine her face.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. Blue looks nice on you," he said, staring at her eye shadow. "Highlights the eyes."

"Have you had a drink or something?" He'd never said anything like that before.

"No!" he exclaimed impatiently.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I have been picking up some usual abnormalities in the Greater London area. "

Remembering something the twins had told her weeks ago, Ace butted in, "You mean that so called 'hoax' alien spaceship?"

He smiled at her, impressed. "Yes, very good. That was what originally attracted me here."

"But you found something else."

"Yes. Since we missed the spaceship crashlanding by a lot more than the forty-eight hours I had intended... I must get around to correcting the TARDIS clock..." he murmured to himself. "I thought it best to try examine it at the UNIT base it was taken to but it went missing. Only recently in fact."

"Stolen?" Ace asked. Who would steal from UNIT? Actually, who'd be capable of stealing from them? "Who'd want to steal an alien spaceship?"

"That's not the only odd thing that's happened around here recently. A week ago, an explosive went off in a pub around here."

Ace kept her face blank. "Really? That is odd."

"What's even stranger is that it was set off moments after a bald man entered. Almost as though it had been timed."

Bald man... Oh the policeman. She remembered him. Best not mention her involvement.

"The day before the spaceship disappeared, a bald man was seen outside the UNIT storage facility-"

"The same guy?" questioned Ace, the sinking feeling setting in again.

"Possibly. I followed him here maybe ten minutes ago."

"He's here?" She immediately set to looking for him.

Sighing almost silently, he continued, "He's playing cards over there."

Ace would have turned to stare straight away if not for the Professor's tug on her arm. Not so conspicuous, right. Slowly, she peered across the room. How had she not seen him before? She should have spotted him the moment he entered the room. She had last time.

"He must have snuck inside without me seeing him," she murmured to herself. "So what's the plan?"

"There are too many people in here. It's best to wait for him to leave, then follow."

Gah! Waiting. Was that all people did these days? No forward plans, just watch and wait.

"Speaking of seeing people, I hadn't expected to find you here. What are you doing here?"

"Not much," Ace lied.

He looked at her, suspiciously, 'hmmm'ing softly. "Regardless, I have something for you," he continued after a moment and pulled something out of his jacket.

"A proper present this time?" Ace asked, eagerly. "Posting something I've made myself doesn't count."

"Hmmm..."

Oh goodie! That meant a real present. All of the previous gifts from him had been incredible. What will it be this time? Another super baseball bat to take on Daleks? Gold coins to fire with her slingshot at Cybermen? An mp3 player that could do all the same stuff her tape-deck did but smaller and faster? A rocket powered go-kart? Therra chocolate? Oh please, PLEASE let it be the chocolate!

"Here," he said, handing her something.

It was small. Not a bat or a go-kart. Not round, so no coins. No headphones, no mp3 player. It was however, light, rectangular (Chocolate bar! Chocolate bar!) with a screen. It was...

A phone.

How disappointing.

"Your manner suggests that you are not pleased with it," the Professor stated, having watched her reaction.

Ace shook her head and looked over the girt again. It was still a phone. Funny how she'd actually believed it might have changed into something a bit more... well, more.

"No. I... I like it. Thanks."

"But?" he inquired, observing her like an owl.

"What's it for?"

He peered about as though expecting trouble at any moment. "Nothing in particular. It's just in case."

"In case of what?"

"I don't know. But you've got a gut instinct and," he rubbed her nose affectionately, "a nose for trouble and being where you're not supposed to be, and this might be helpful."

Truer words were rarely spoken.

A shout reminded them that they were far from alone. "Hey, you!"

He looked immediately away from the speaker. "Oh dear, they've found me."

The security guy did not look very friendly as he marched towards them.

"What have you done to annoy him?" wondered Ace, amused.

Her friend's eyes gazed into the distance, thinking hard. "What was it he asked me for? I don't think I remem- Oh, I remember now. He demanded I.D from me. He was quite insistent."

She tutted to aggravate him, just because she could get away with it. "Professor..."

"It's just a small misunderstanding, but he wouldn't listen to me. I better be off. Ace, could you...?"

This was just a part of her job; creating distractions. "On it, Professor."

She reached into the jacket pocket, and then remembered the jacket wasn't hers, meaning there was no Nitro 9 stashed inside. Ah! Right. What now? She scanned her surroundings looking for something, but nothing was there just the people dancing nearby.

"Ace..." he reminded her.

She shook her head from side to side, frantically hoping some kind of miracle would occur and a can of explosives would just appear in her hand. Oddly enough there was no sign of it happening. Caught between a rock and a hard place, she needed something spontaneous, very distracting and fast. A fight, despite its effectiveness in creating a huge distraction, would have ticked all those boxes except she simply didn't have the time to aggravate a random passerby.

As much as she wished there was, there was little room for a compromise from the single option she could think of. Urgh! Someone, somewhere really wants me to suffer, she thought bitterly to herself. And that someone will pay dearly once this was over.

However, that was later. This was now. Having little choice, Ace took four hurried steps, took a breath as though about to spring off a diving board, shed her emotions, slipped her protective armour over her mind and stepped into the personal space of the closest person, her clutter of emotions behind her crying in alarm. Don't do it! Don't do it! Don't! Don't! Her mental shields reflected the majority of the demands, allowing her body do as she bid. Literally seizing the source of her distress with both hands tight enough to strangle it (wishing she could strangle it), she pulled it down towards her met it with her lips.

* * *

There was no need to do this, Kelly reminded herself, eyes peering around the room. Ace was perfectly capable of watching out for everyone, so relax. Ace has it all under control. Everything's fine. She took a deep breath and had a sip of wine, letting it dance briefly across her tongue.

Nope. Still not relaxed.

Not even with someone else dealing with all the possible problems did she feel secure enough to let down her guard. Responsibility wasn't hers right now, but it felt like it. Always did, even if it was outside her control.

She defended her constant monitoring of the other girls as habit. It was in no way a sign of a lack of faith in Ace's abilities. It just made her feel better to see it for herself. She had trouble sleeping at night without checking that all the girls in the dorm were dead asleep with her own eyes. Only then was she satisfied enough to sleep herself, regardless of how tired she was.

An odd image in the reflection of the glass on the bar caught her eye. Kelly slid the glass to the side slightly to get a better view. Ace had just walked out of the bathroom wearing a large black jacket, her hair tied up in a rushed ponytail. She thought that was strange because Ace had been so pleased with her new look. What had changed?

The jacket was also a mystery. It wasn't hers. It was plain, clean, and a size and half too big. Where had she gotten that? Her interest ensnared by her curiosity, Kelly turned on her stool to observe what Ace was doing.

Kelly's blood chilled as a man rapidly approached her by slinking through the people on the dance floor. She knew that face. She recognised that sweater. Above all…

She could spot trouble a mile away.

The scent of danger filled the room, quickly overcoming her consistent, albeit fast, heart rate. The explanation of Ace's change of appearance immediately became clear. She was trying to draw attention to herself. It was a signal meant for her, screaming to be noticed, and she'd almost missed it. Mentally cursing, Kelly scanned the room for other details she'd missed. The room was packed, making access to the exits difficult. She detected a trap, deliberate or not, and felt the fool. Ace had been too busy dealing with their problems to deal with her own. Now they'd caught up with her.

Scrambling to come up with a plan of escape, Kelly watched Ace leap away from the man and into the crowd that was swift to engulf her. Was she trying to escape? No. It didn't look like it. She was trying to give one final warning in case all her others had gone unnoticed.

This one sure didn't. Kelly's ears rang with wolf whistles from not only onlookers but Taylor and Andrea having spotted the spectacle. She dug into her handbag. Ace needed a distraction, and Kelly had just the thing.

* * *

Ace disengaged her thoughts and her mind from her own body. She no longer felt anything. It was a film she was watching, not herself. She was an outsider, an observer to the disruption her actions had caused, as though seeing through another's eyes. Ace felt nothing, nothing at all. She was completely unattached.

Until things escalated very quickly.

After almost ten seconds of watching from above, she was slammed back into herself by an almighty bang rang out. The bang was enough of a jolt to make her pull back, nearly stumbling into someone who'd backed into her, also startled by the sound. Ace's emotions, sensing their chance, leapt back into her as she scanned the room for the cause. A hissing noise, accompanied by loud whistles and bangs, bounced off the walls and ceiling as a pair of fire crackers roared to life, firing coloured sparks everywhere.

Now that was the kind of distraction Ace wished she'd had thirty seconds ago. But where had they come from?

Smoke filled the room and another screech of alarm filled the room. Cue fire alarms and sprinkling system. Blinking water droplets from her eyes, Ace found her way out of the crowd only to be grabbed around the wrist and yanked out the door. She tried to escape the grip but it was so tight her hand was changing colour. The effort caused her kidnapper to turn.

"Come on!

"Kelly? What-?"

They suddenly exited the building and Ace found herself hustled into the minivan. Before she had a chance to speak, Taylor, Chelsea and Chloe squeezed in the back with her, whilst Andrea took shotgun. Kelly swiftly hit the accelerator and the van shot off onto the road.

Being seen (Ahem!)-ing by a really close friend had to be the worst thing ever. Honestly, Ace couldn't think of anything more embarrassing, even if you only had (Ahem!)-ed to create a distraction. Particularly when you caught them gawping at you in the corner of your eye. It hadn't meant anything! It was going to straight into the burn bag to catch alight as soon as she got to the school and never mentioned or remembered again! That was the plan.

She had forgotten to put her school mates into the equation.

The trip back was torture for the others were too attentive for their own good and had, naturally, seen the whole thing; the 'whole thing' which had practically no truth in it. They hadn't seen the events preceding the undeniable fact that she had (Ahem!)-ed. So as far as they knew she had just walked up to a random guy and (Ahem!)-ed him which is NOT what happened. It was just what it had looked like to everyone else (Including him, but she wasn't going to go there).

The worse thing was she couldn't explain why they were wrong.

Unable to say anything, she stared at the floor of the minivan, shotting periodic glares at Andrea and Taylor who (for once) weren't at each other's throats, but teaming up together to tease her about it.

"So," Andrea began again for the third time. "Who is he?"

"He's a bit old for you though, isn't he?" Taylor commented.

Please, Ace wished with her eyes closed, someone, save me.

"Leave her alone."

Kelly to the rescue! She mentally thanked her as much as possible. Except... wasn't Kelly's voice less girly normally?

"He was actually fairly decent looking."

Ace's eyes snapped open, not believing what she'd just heard. Oh God! Not her too!

"So when's he coming over?" asked Chelsea sounding serious.

"He's not," Ace told her shortly.

The Posh Totty's eyes opened in understanding. "Oh! So you're going to meet him somewhere."

Ace longed to slap herself.

Half an hour of torture later, Ace exited the van as fast as possible. Taylor and Andrea made to grab her and drag her up to the dorm but she slipped from their grasp and kept out of reach by walking in the opposite direction.

"Where are ya going?" called Taylor.

"None of your business, Hamster Hoops."

Taylor stuck her tongue out at her, fiddling with her giant hooped earrings.

"Bet she's going back to see him again," muttered Andrea, less quietly than she'd intended.

"Really?" exclaimed Chelsea. "Can I come?"

That finally set Ace off. She spun on her heel. "Oh, bog off!" she demanded seething. "All of you! Get lost!"

Wishing feverishly she had a can of Nitro to toss at something, she stormed off into the trees to find some. Her backpack was here somewhere. Once she'd found it, she'd find something to explode. That always makes everything better, or at least more bearable. Nothing like danger and destruction to make you forget about stinking emotional stuff.

The thought, somehow given the ability to drain all her strength, caused her to stumble and trip over hidden obstacle and fall face first. Furious with herself, she got to her feet and rushed back to where she'd fallen. The trip wire snapped as she attacked it with her hands and she tossed it aside. Stupid First Years, leaving their traps and toys everywhere. When she caught whoever had set it up…

She stopped for a second, trying to come up with a suitable threat. Finding she couldn't form thoughts clearly, she dismissed it and strode furiously into the woods, eyes glued to something in the distance. Anything that wandered into her path like roots, rocks or traps got a hard kick as she passed it.

The tree she identified as the hiding place of her stash was more difficult to climb than she remembered. Pulling herself up onto another branch, she scraped her leg on a sharp snapped off piece of wood. She ignored it. Physical pain didn't hurt right now. It was just a distraction to stop her thinking about… other stuff. And that stuff really didn't have to be thought about. If she kept herself busy for long enough she could avoid it all together.

Clambering onto the last few branches capable of holding her weight, she reached up further and felt for the handle of her backpack. Finding only wood, leaves and the slight sticky threads of spider web, she scowled at the dark as though it was to blame. It had to be here. Had to be. This was the tree, wasn't it? No, it's not! I've just gone and climbed the wrong tree, she thought to herself. I really am stupid. Can't even remember the right tree that I hide my stuff in, can I?

Now very irritated by her mistake, she withdrew her hand then felt it rub against a familiar tough material. She snatched at it and pulled it down. Oh, it was the right tree. Never mind. She ripped at the zipper and seized a can of Nitro. Now she could really give her anger a real outlet! She grinned, and anyone would have run a mile to get away from it. Holding the can under her arm, she pulled out another, and another until she reached for the forth and the cans toppled out of her arm. She hurriedly grabbed at them. Her fingers skimmed over the polished smooth surface and couldn't keep a grip. The canned explosives hit the ground with a sickening metallic thud. Oh sh…

Kaboom! The ground shook abruptly with the vibration and the shockwave shoved her right out of the tree. Not even holding her hands out could cushion the fall. She landed on her hands and knees in a pit of recently exploded earth with a moan, scrunching her eyes up to try to block out the pain. She had only just started to get over the shock of the impact when she heard something sliding against wood above her. She looked up. A large, heavy backpack perched precariously on the branch started leaning and was about to fall from the heavens.

It just wasn't her day.

Slam! It was heavier than she'd remembered. Ace had no desire to get up and move. A can of Nitro had hit her head. The bag hadn't provided much of a barrier. Now her head was swimming. As much as she didn't want to face her emotional turmoil inside, she was too disorientated to stand. Funny how you try outrunning things and they always catch up to bite you, she thought bitterly. They bite hard too, especially if you don't let them catch you very often.

She always dreaded these moments when she could do nothing to stop her emotions from overwhelming her. Things hadn't improved much since the Professor's betrayal she had sworn she'd gotten over speech. Even though she'd forgiven him (partially anyway) and understood why he'd said those things, the words still haunted the dark corners of her mind; an already scary place to begin with.

'Emotional cripple' she reflected bitterly, eyes closed to the outside world. The words still stung, even when it was she herself who thought them. It didn't matter how tough she was or made herself to be on the outside. Deep down she knew it was her own thoughts, her own flipping emotions that would beat her. They were doing it now, washing over her, swamping her defences like a series of huge waves, ready to drag her under. At times like this, she was clinging to driftwood on the harsh seas, battered left, right and centre, bobbing up and down with the emotional current, powerless to choose her own course.

Anger, disappointment, sadness, embarrassment, guilt; each with its own particular weakness they tried to exploit. Anger jabbed at her temper, her lack of control. Disappointment poked at her failures, her lack of effort. Sadness drenched her in past betrayals, surrounded her with loss. Embarrassment was the largest wave this time, crashing incredible detailed recollections of actions she was less than proud of. It made her suffer in her humiliation and relive each moment beside her worst critic, one who never forgot, one who softened no punches; herself.

She'd been stupid, leaping without thinking. Now it was all over, she could think of a dozen other ways to have dealt with the problem in the pub. The distraction didn't have to be that one.

The last wave, guilt, always hit home, hard. It reminded her that she couldn't blame anyone else. Everything she did, everything she said, had been a choice she'd made. Tonight was no different. She'd chosen that option. She could have chosen not to do anything, but she hadn't. Never mind the circumstances or possible situations that may have occurred, what happened was because of her making a choice.

All right, she thought annoyed. I get it. It was my fault. Now leave me alone. Let me get over it, ok?

Her thoughts summoned a white room. It was simply furnished, nothing fancy. There was a smell to it too. Freshly cut lawn, clean towel, baking cake; friendly things, welcoming things, the sort you'd find at home. Was this a home? It looked like a home. Smelt like a home. The white lounge chair felt soft and she sighed as she sunk into it, the warmth wrapping around her. This was nice. She tilted her head to the side and an apple popped out of nowhere. Deciding it would be a nice snack she reached out her hand but hesitated. Her hand was clean as though scrubbed a hundred times. Something about its perfectness unnerved her slightly. She couldn't name what was wrong with it so dismissed it.

It occurred to her a few scattered thoughts later that she had created this place. It was just inside her head, probably brought about by her concussion. A genuinely peaceful place in her wild, scattered thoughts. It would be so easy to just stay here. How perfectly sane that would be compared to everything else. She wouldn't have to care about anything, but making peace with herself. Like a monk, just reflecting on themselves. Wouldn't that be nice, to care only about what she thought and felt and to hell with everything and everyone else? No more misreading social cues, no more failure, no more loss, no more embarrassment, no more caring what people might think.

A perfect kind of place. Quiet, peaceful...

Something inside her yawned. Boring.

She was alarmed by the idea. How could it be? You've got nothing to worry about, no one to impress-

No one to talk to, no one to laugh with, it interrupted. All peace and order, right and wrong, black and white, up and down, yes and no. Perfect world? Really? I know that's not true.

She asked who it was.

I'm you, the real you. Not this sobbing sook who gives up after she falls down.

I'm not giving up, she corrected. I'm...

Running away, it offered.

No.

That's what it looks like.

Well, I'm not.

Then you're hiding, cowering from the big bad world like a little frightened kitten.

I'm not scared of anything!

Prove it then! Don't go hiding in the safe 'perfect' world, the fantasy world you wish existed. That's not what Ace would do. If you are Ace, you'll get up and get over this right now, it challenged.

The idea sparked and she ceased hold of it in a death grip.

I will!

The on switch snapped back on, the lights in the white room flickered off, leaving her in darkness. She felt a tingle of worry for a moment but it faded when her eyes adjusted to the dim light in the dark. Little specs glimmered on a black canvas; stars she realised. Broad wooden arms reached up to touch them. She inhaled an unmistaken scent of smoke and chemicals. As much as the scars reminded her of previous mistakes, it was somehow comforting to see her hands were scratched and covered in muck. Dirt in the cuts stang but that was to be expected.

She stood and all emotional baggage that had been stored in the corner of her mind fell to the ground. No negative thoughts rummaged around in her head. She was free of it, but how long it would last, she didn't know. However that didn't matter because right now, something else had caught her attention. In the dark it was awful quiet save the slight movement of the leaves. Ace smelt something else in the air beside the Nitro waft. To be honest, it probably wasn't a smell, but it might as well have been.

Was it instinct, or was it experience that bade her to search her surroundings more closely? The result was a few seconds glimpse of something shiny in the dark, the acknowledgement that she was far from alone. Something that had the same reflective qualities of mirror stared at her through the shadows. Not a camera. Cameras don't blink. This did.

It illuminated a tiny radioactive tone of green, detecting it had been spotted. Like the widening of a pair of eyes. Exactly like a pair of eyes watching her in the dark. Unusual eyes. Alien eyes, Ace concluded.

As if reading her thoughts, the eyes closed in a rush. Ace took a step forward to investigate, but, coincidently, a cloud crossed the moon, coating the forest in complete darkness. When moonlight returned, she knew there was little point searching for it. Whatever it was, it was gone.


	28. An Encounter With A Lioness

**Author's Note: Yes, it has been a while since I've updated and I apologise for the delay, particually ending on a semi-cliffhanger. You will be pleased (I hope) that the next chapter (and a half) are well underway and Chapter 28 may be posted at any time in the near future. This one's mainly plot, but I can guarentee action is coming really soon. **

**I admit, having a weekly Doctor Who fix does help me write this. But, no spoilers here. **

**One more thing; R.I.P Elizabeth Sladen. You will forever be in our hearts.**

**Chapter 27**

**An Encounter With A Lioness**

'_The past was one thing. Her own was a whole different can of worms.'_

The school was very eerie at night. The cause couldn't be narrowed down to individual factors, but the Cambodian skulls that stared out into the dark played a major part. It was as though they were the eyes of the school and it was watching her. Pretty creepy, although Ace's nerves were already on edge after catching sight of those glowing eyes in the forest. She hadn't lost them either, and could still feel their stare on her back. She really didn't like the feeling of being watched constantly as it made her twitch uneasily all over, although there was no point searching for them now. They'd just disappear, and knowing they were there somewhere out of sight was worse than sensing they were just out of sight.

If she had been anyone else, she would have put the feeling down to paranoia. Normal people hardly get followed by creepy eyes. It's just their imagination most of the time, and those who really believe they're being followed are the sort people who are panicked by the slightest sound in a dark room. The sight of a mouse or the shadow of a hat stand could freak them out. Ace knew she was made of tougher stuff than that. What people found scary was pretty tame to her. She wasn't scared of much. She'd seen some pretty awful stuff than made common fears seems pathetic.

An outsider might think her few fears were quite strange, but they would hardly understand that they were justified. Oh sure, men in metal suits weren't scary unless they had an alien gun pointed at you and spoke mechanically. Pepper pots had lost their innocence long ago. As for her distrust of soup, well, that could have something to do with being the guest of an alien who didn't see anything wrong with putting humans on the menu.

Being scared was not something Ace liked to admit. Ever. But being very nervous about something, yeah, she could own up to feeling that. Right now, she was very, very nervous. And edgy. So edgy in fact that if she were a porcupine all her needle sharp spines would be on end. Being followed can do that to a person.

In Ace's world, paranoia does not exist. There is such a thing as worrying too much, but if you feel something is wrong, it probably is. When you travel about through time and space and your friend has plenty of enemies, you learn to ignore coincidences and trust every one of your gut feelings. If they scream, 'There's something there' then there is something there.

'It's not paranoia when people are usually out to get you,' she reasoned to herself. 'Sad but true. Gee, if I had a can of Nitro for every time someone or something was out to get me...'

A hidden obstacle in the darkness chose that moment to get in her way. Great, another bruise. Just what she needed.

The oddly shaped shadows and numerous concealed obstructions of the corridors also made navigating difficult however deliberately placed traps and snares were more of a concern to her than tripping over the occasional hockey stick. Ace didn't bother avoiding the later for it took too much effort, and reaching her destination did not require stealth, only speed if she were to reach it in time.

What she really needed was to find Kelly. What she'd tell her, she had no idea. Nor did Ace have a clue of how Kelly would be able to do anything about it. It wasn't like Kelly could just point a flashlight into the dark and scare the eyes away.

Ace didn't know it, but she was mostly driven by the need to tell someone about the problem. She could deal with things problems on her own, but big very important ones were something else. Tackling them alone would be extremely difficult. She'd usually turn to the Professor at times like these. If he didn't see fixing it an issue, then it meant it wasn't too hard for her to deal with. At least she was more confident about dealing with it herself.

Considering this, it was understandable that she sought Kelly's reassurance as an alternative to the Professor's. Both were quite capable and confidence in their abilities, and both were reliable, despite having faults of their own. Almost as though detecting these and other similarities between them on a subliminal level, Ace found herself calling out.

"Kit...?"

Standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, she stared up and caught sight of a figure that had halted.

Unseen by Ace, the figure smirked to the wall. Not that unusual for humour had to be released sometime. They turned and peered down to the ground floor to answer the call.

"I have you to blame for the constant use of that name."

Ace sighed, acknowledging her involvement. "It'll never stick."

"It certainly won't when you stop using it."

They both knew the chance of that happening was nil.

Kelly glanced at her for a moment. "I heard a bang outside."

The unspoken 'I know it was you' resonated through the air between them. It was then Ace's grubby appearance was brought into the light as Ace climbed the stairs, but Kelly pretended she couldn't smell the smoke that clung to the girl's clothes (Including the mysterious badge-less jacket) so she could take notice of whatever had made her senses tingle warningly. Ace looked odd, and that wasn't the leaves and twigs in her hair or the numerous scrapes and cuts that covered her arms like intricate tattoos or even the feeling of it being wrong of her to wear any jacket but her own signature one.

"There's something I need to tell you," Ace began.

Looking past the recent abrasions, Kelly identified yet another clue. Ace's eyes gleamed brightly despite the darkness (She had just exploded something. The adrenaline rush was to be expected) but a tiny dot of doubt or uncertainty flickered into them every few seconds. Accompanied by the need to tell her something, Kelly immediately became concerned. Ace did many things, not often safe things, but she never looked anything less than certain. Determination oozed off her whenever she chased the hint of an idea that struck her. If it wasn't that, it was exhilaration, generally following the determined gaze and directly following something 'wicked' occurring.

In short, Kelly had never seen Ace looking doubtful about anything before. Considering how extreme Ace's emotions tended to become (What happened an hour ago being a perfect example), she was probably right to feel concerned.

Unaware of how Kelly was evaluating her, Ace found herself in a dilemma. Now she'd found Kit and told her she needed to tell her something, she had to actually say something. What she felt that she needed to say was rather difficult because she didn't know exactly how to explain it or how to formulate the right words.

An image came into her mind, specifically a face that was becoming more and more familiar against her wishes.

"You remember that guy in the warehouse," she began, not quite sure where this conversation would end up going.

Kelly's neutral expression faded like a light being turned off. A glare formed and it stared at her viciously. Bad move, Ace realised too little too late as suddenly Kelly seized her arm. Still reeling at the abruptness of the action, she could do little else but stumble around to retain her footing, while Kelly dragged her half way across the landing. The possibility of being tossed over the railing clawed at her mind, no doubt caused by the unexpected fall out of a tree only minutes ago. However, when this scary and dangerous Kelly didn't adjust her grip to do so, Ace heaved a sigh of relief. She'd had enough of falling.

A moment later, realising where she was being taken, Ace wished otherwise. Falling suddenly seemed appealing, particularly when compared to being forced to cross the line that was forbidden to cross. The line however was only a warning of what lay ahead, and the unknown but indisputable terrors that lurked inside the impenetrable fortress that certain St Trinian girls called their own for a year.

It was the last place she wanted to go, but it happened to the first one on Kelly's list.

The third floorboard squeaked when Kelly reached for the door handle and Ace fully expected to be zapped by a hundred volts of electricity. She remembered all too well what happened last time. However, this time no bolt struck her. Kelly had disabled the defences somehow, probably with the key she'd slid into the topmost of the four locks. The key turned once, twice, three times clockwise then once anticlockwise for half a turn. Almost like a safe combination lock, Ace thought for a second. There was no click to inform her that the door had been unlocked, just the faintest creak when the door swang open only to reveal another door. Solid steel (what do you know? The twins had been right). Kelly inserted the key again, turned it once, and it opened.

Ace was pulled inside then released. She might have been able to beat her to the door, might have escaped, but she was frozen to the spot. Everything had shut down the moment she observed the contents of the room.

There weren't any torture devices, visible at any rate, or stash of confiscated weapons of mass destruction. That should have been reassuring. It wasn't. Not even Ace's fleeting thoughts of what the room might contain, or the nightmares others undoubtedly had about this place after antagonising Kelly once too often, came anywhere close to its contents. For the room was, simply, plain. Bare essentials only, except the new looking bar fridge that peeked out from under the desk where a computer monitor sat looking quite pleased with itself, almost as if it knew just how privileged it was to be there. The wooden chest in the corner was almost too normal to be in such a feared place.

A cork board had curiously been attached to the roof above the perfectly made bed and thumbtacks pinned numerous post-it notes and photographs into place. Ace tilted her head to read the handwritten notes (Notably messier than Kelly's usual handwriting but definitely hers) but they were unreadable except when lying down and looking straight up.

The door shut behind her with a dull clunk. Any possibility of escape vanished. Kelly turned to face her. There was no enraged expression in sight like Ace had imagined there'd be. Oh, she was annoyed all right, but nerved too. Her mask had slipped. Now the mysterious hidden face had been uncovered, Ace was immediately aware that she had absolutely zilch amount of control over the situation now. She stood on unsteady ground for talking to Kelly like this was unfamiliar. When the mask was on, Kelly's expression rarely betrayed what she really thought. Sometimes talking to her was like addressing a wall; the occasional twitch of her lips was the most visible sign of life.

Emotion was a strange sight to encounter after facing that for so long. Her eyes seemed to shine with brown flames that flickered embers out at you, as if testing your flammability. She dominated over you by leaning forward and regarded you carefully, sussing your weaknesses out.

The likeness to a feline creature, only just detectable when masked, was ever so much more evident now. No more little kitty cat. Now the most powerful and dangerous member of the felines, the king of the jungle, was staring at her prey. The St Trinian girls were her pride. She was their head, their leader, commander, defender, and this room was her den.

Ace gulped to herself. She'd really gone and put her foot in it this time.

The lioness spoke. "You promised not to talk about that." There were so many signals and facial expressions to observe and decipher. Once, those words might have been a statement of fact. Right then, the intention behind the words was unclear. But, regardless of the situation, you should never provoke a dangerous, angry creature, particularly when they belong to the large cat family. One wrong word or fast movement and they could lash out mercilessly.

Ace put up a defensive front; "Sorry." To her ears, it sounded like she was asking permission to speak, but she didn't dare risk anything else.

Permission was granted through the word, "Explain."

A demand or a request? She wasn't game enough to gamble on the second option, yet what was she to say? This hadn't been the way she'd planned to tell the truth. Despite that, if any time was a good time to tell, this was it. You're in the securest room in the school with the one person who actually might believe you, she reasoned to herself.

But how do I tell her? 'Hey Kit, you wanna know why I keep saying my life is complicated? Well I travel through time and space with a friend of mine, fighting bad guys and generally saving the world. I can't help but notice that something not quite right here and I think I just saw something in the forest. Just thought you should know.'

That idea was rapidly blown out of the water. It definitely was not the way to go. That would go down like a shot of Trinski; agonisingly slowly as it burns your throat; because this girl did not look in the mood for a life-changing moment or mind blowing revelations. She wanted information and straight to the point facts that wouldn't require any thinking or prior knowledge.

Start simple, she decided. Then, if necessary, give her some time before dropping the heavy stuff.

"That bald guy with the gun, I've seen him before," Ace explained.

Another of those considering looks, before, "Where?" was asked.

"At that bar. He was that guy who walked in who looked like he was a policeman." She quickly corrected, "He was the policeman who pulled us over."

Kelly didn't blink. "Yes, I know."

"You know?" questioned Ace, caught off guard yet again.

Heels tapped on the floorboards as Kelly turned to pluck a paper off the desk. "Police Constable Bill Scott. Thirty two years old according to this. Been in the Police for two years. Only," she continued, "it's all forged."

Ace glanced at the page she had been handed. She was no expert, but she couldn't find anything that screamed 'fake' about it. "Looks pretty legit to me."

Kelly disagreed and pointed out the inaccuracies with a deep red nail. "Wrong I.D number, passport listed is void and belonged to a man who has been dead for six years. Incorrect current resident address. Current tenant has been there for the last ten years, and never shared the apartment. All created to pass preliminary security checks, not intense scrutiny."

Ace took another look at the paper. It still looked normal, and she couldn't even point out where half the information was stored, let alone what was wrong with it. Looks like Kelly had done her research and boy, had she dissected it in order to study every individual part. The amount of time and effort it would take, Ace had no idea but figured she'd give up after five minutes trying. Determination was one thing. Concentrating for a long period of time was another. Besides, Ace realised she'd have no clue how it could be done. But someone who did this for a living, they wouldn't have much trouble.

Had Kelly had much trouble? Unlikely, Ace deducted. Investigating and finding the truth were skills she probably used every day. How else could she know everything that happens at the school?

"Bill Scott didn't exist six months ago," Kelly concluded, either unaware of Ace's lack of attention or choosing to ignore it. "Popped up out of nowhere and has been watching us for weeks."

The last sentence had the force of a kick in the gut. "What?" exclaimed Ace. "Weeks?"

"Sometime in the last few weeks, the police were contacted regarding the sighting of a missing person." The Head Girl met her eyes. "An unknown and untraceable source told authorities the missing person was currently attending this school, and used the same alias; Ace."

If Kelly's previous statement had knocked the wind out of Ace's lungs, this one pushed her onto the edge of unconsciousness and pulled her back just so it could do it again. The past was one thing. Her own was a whole different can of worms. Any little nasty moment would crawl out given the chance. There was a reason she never looked back, yet it kept being shoved in her face. Remember this? Remember that? Or that time when...? Every time Ace had visited Earth since leaving it her dark past had reared it's ugly head on every occasion, like a TV program showing the same episode every week. She didn't like repeats. Once was enough for most of those memories.

Couldn't she go anywhere in the Universe without them snapping at her heels, nagging at her, taunting her, reminding her of what she'd done? Not even twenty years into the future at of the craziest schools in the world was enough distance between her and the worst years of her life.

There was no point avoiding the truth anymore. There wasn't enough time to figure out the best way to explain, she just had to say it.

"They're after Ace McShane," Ace told her, quietly. "That's who they want. She couldn't be me, could she?"

Kelly frowned. "You said you were."

Ace nodded slowly. "I did, didn't I? And you believed me. But they won't, will they?"

She sighed to herself. People were forever asking for the truth. They hardly ever liked it or believed it, so Ace had learnt to not mention it. It didn't seem to matter whether or not they accepted the existence of alien life and could travel through space with ease, time travel was deemed impossible wherever she went. Some didn't even understand the concept. Some were opposed to the idea or declared she was mad.

When faced with obstacles like that, telling the whole truth had become an increasingly rare event. Ace had taken to telling half-truths when she had the chance, and not answering whenever she had the option. When really pressed or threatened, she'd lie, although that had its problems for sure, but when the truth sounds ridiculous you don't really have much choice.

"Ace McShane can't be me because she'd thirty something, not seventeen," Ace continued. "They're not going to believe that I've travelled through time, I mean, who would?"

"I did."

Ace jerked her head up from the floor to meet Kelly's eyes. The death glare had disappeared, for the moment at least. Instead, curiosity seemed to glaze her brown eyes.

"Most people freak out. You're one of the few I've met who haven't," Ace told her, which Kelly looked rather pleased about. She was taking it as a compliment. "I wonder why only certain people accept it?"

Kelly shrugged. "It did seem a bit unrealistic, I'll admit. Thing is, it was not the strangest explanation I've thought of."

Ace blinked. Kelly had considered other things and thought they were even stranger than time travel? "Really?"

Kelly nodded. "It made sense in a way after comparing logic to the overwhelming evidence that supports your claim."

"What evidence?"

She smirked and started counting off her fingers. "Your name for starters, your outdated clothing when you first got here, those phrases you curse under your breath... It took me an hour to figure out what on Earth 'Gordon Bennett' meant."

That forced a grin out of Ace.

"What else…? Mainly little things that didn't add up like when you saw Taylor's iPod and couldn't figure out how she managed to get the music on it, or when you named the wrong Prime Minister, or when you couldn't find the windscreen wipers for the van after unleashing your smokescreen. No wonder you were a terrible driver."

"Hey!" exclaimed Ace. "You try driving a car from the 60's or 80's. I bet you'd have a little difficulty too."

Kelly's eyebrows rose in amusement. "Those antiques?"

"They weren't 'antiques' back then!" Ace defended.

"I never thought anyone from the 80's would be able to work a computer, let alone surf the Internet."

"I doubt you could get my tape-deck to work!"

Kelly let that comment slide. "How long have you been here, in this time?" she asked, changing the topic with ease.

"However long I've been here," Ace replied.

"Two months. You've only been here that long?"

Ace nodded.

"That… is quite an achievement considering what time period you've come from." Kelly's grin faded, a thought occurring to her. "But that means no one from the outside saw you until three weeks ago."

"Except," Ace added, having just figured it out for herself, "that was when this policeman guy found us twice in the one night. He already knew who he was looking for."

Kelly agreed, "Exactly what I was thinking. Someone told them you're here."

"My money's on Josey," Ace muttered.

Despite not getting on with said girl too well either, Kelly did not allow the accusation to persist. "Whoever they are, they know your real name."

"That should make it easier, but it doesn't. It's not like I've been telling everyone," Ace told her. "You're the only one who knows the name 'McShane', and I know you didn't tell on me."

Kelly glanced sideways.

"What?"

"That's… not quite true." She suddenly looked away, almost… guilty. "It's my fault, Ace."

Ace blinked. "What do you mean, 'your fault'?"

Kelly bit her lip and hesitated for a second before answering. "I had the Geeks look you up the day you arrived." Having said that, she reached into a drawer on the desk and pulled out a thin pile of papers that had been neatly stapled together. She handed it over.

Ace's eyes frantically scanned over the first page.

* * *

**Missing Persons File # 278,147,226**

**Name: **Dorothy 'Ace' McShane

**DOB:** October 9, 1970

**Date/s Missing:** **Disappeared: **November 20, 1987 (Aged 16)

**Found:** Sunday August 31, 1989

**Disappeared Again:** September 1, 1989

**Found:** February 24, 1993

**Disappeared Again:** February 26 1993

**Missing From:** Perivale, England

**Info: **Goes under the name of 'Ace'. Anglo-Saxon, brown eyes and hair, normally tied back in a ponytail or braid. Wears a black leather jacket with 'Ace' on the back that is covered in badges. Usually carries a large backpack with her. About 5 feet and 2 inches tall.

**Sightings: **

**1:** After being expelled from her school, Greenford High School, Ace stayed at home while awaiting application into another school. She was last seen by her mother heading into her bedroom.

**2:** A woman matching Ace's description wearing a white shirt, black skirt and tights, was seen on the 23rd November, 1988, at a jazz performance of Courtney Pine's. After the jig, she asked for an autograph and then disappeared without a trace. Witnesses reported that there was a jacket matching hers hanging on the back of her chair that vanished as well.

**3:** Last seen in Perivale between August the 31st and September the 1st, 1989, by locals including her friends, Ange, Shirella and Derek. She was wearing her badge covered jacket, a red long sleeved shirt, Doc Martins and black tights.

**4:** A woman matching Ace's description was reported to have stayed at Gore Crow Hotel, Lake Vortigern, England for a night in late February, 1993. The owner of Gore Hotel stated that later the next day, she drove away in an old yellow car with a small group. She was wearing a three quarter sleeved green shirt, long black tights, black shoes, and gold earrings. One of the guests at the hotel at the time claims that this woman was also carrying a black badge covered jacket and called herself 'Ace'.

* * *

Ace stared sightlessly at the paper for a moment before furiously flicking through the other sheets. Her heart sank lower with each page. Her old life had been spelt out by a missing person's report, several police records (One detailing the fire that burnt down Gabriel Chase), a list of employees at the Perivale café with her name highlighted, her birth certificate, criminal record and a few outdated photographs. Midge stood in the most recent of the photos beside Ange and a much younger looking version of herself.

'I won't cry,' she told herself as emotions started to bubble inside and tighten her throat. 'I will not cry.' She inhaled deeply, and briefly closed her eyes.

"Ace…"

"I'm fine, Kit." She commanded her quavering voice to return to normal. "Really, I'm fine. I just… It's been a while, that's all." As much as the sight of her old friends hurt, she couldn't help but look at them again. "Who's seen all this?" she asked, staring at the photo.

Kelly began talking very quickly, almost as though to soften the blow. "The Geeks found most of it. As for who they might have told, it's hard to say but they all think 'McShane' is your mum. Polly and I are the only ones who know otherwise, and she wouldn't tell anyone. No one would have been able to retrieve the files off her laptop so whoever told on you must have figured it out themself."

"That leaves everyone else, doesn't it?" Ace replied hollowly.

"Ace, I'm sorry," Kelly said with what appeared to be as much conviction and honesty as humanely possible.

Ace's emotional guards started working to patch up her broken defences. Automatically, she tried to brush the whole thing off like it was nothing. "It's not your fault."

"But, it is," Kelly returned, unaware of how her words were restricting Ace's recovery and emotional stability. "I was the one who made them look you up. They wouldn't have tried as hard to find all this if I hadn't pressured them. Ace, I am sorry, really I am."

If Ace had been her usual self, she would have noticed the value of the confession and accepted the sympathy. But she wasn't. In her current state, words of sympathy were not what she wanted to hear. She didn't want to hear anything. Escaping and getting away from everything distressing her was what she really wanted. It had failed her only minutes previously. Running away to blow something up didn't seem to be working as well as it used to. Surrendering to her flared emotions hadn't helped then either.

Ace willed her inner rage to engulf her and let her temper deal with it all. It refused to obey her command and stayed, infuriatingly, dormant. Even it wasn't going to help her. Perhaps it was as tired as she was. Maybe she had unleashed it all in the forest, or its strength had been sapped away by the sight of those unblinking eyes that peered at her in the dark.

Unable to feel angry or run away, Ace closed her eyes and attempted to shove everything into the corner of her mind. It argued with her, suggesting she just let it go. Why not? She sensed it drain away as she breathed deeply. It was almost... relaxing, she realised. Could this be how people remain calm despite the things occurring around them? They just let it flow through them like wind in the trees? Was this what the Professor meant when he had been blabbing on about 'mental control'?

It was an odd sensation to be sure, and Ace had never felt it overcome her before. Her emotions seemed to have been reset by the experience. She'd never felt so neutral in her life. But being neutral had to be good right? It certainly wasn't negative because she didn't feel angry or annoyed at all. Just... content to think things through. And it was easy, finding ideas when not inhibited by emotions.

Maybe there was a method in Kelly's madness. Donning her mask could be her way of achieving this. Speaking of Kelly, she looked rather troubled, even distressed, as though horrified at the idea that she had caused all this to happen. 'But it's not her fault,' Ace thought to herself. 'How could she have known that I was a time traveller before I told her? She couldn't have, yet she still feels she is to blame.'

"We should be doing something, shouldn't we?" Ace suggested feeling suddenly motivated after controling her emotions. "We should go find this guy before he finds us, right? If we find him first, we can figure out what he wants and stop him."

For a moment, Kelly just blinked uncomprehendingly at her. Then her brown eyes flickered back to their usual shine. The mask slipped back on, and Ace realised she'd missed seeing it. As a powerful tool Kelly used to her advantage it didn't seem quite as intimidating now because Ace had seen the face and personality behind it. The knowledge seemed to highlight certain details about Kelly's masked features and allowed her to identify the emotions they conveyed.

Right now, determination oozed off it; the classic Kelly emotion. A hint of a desire to make up for her mistake also revealed itself, meaning she hadn't completely forgiven herself, but she wasn't about to let a second pass without doing something to rectify it. That, Ace decided, would do.

Kelly nodded, accepting the idea proposed. "Yes. That's what we'll do."

"Do you have any idea where he might be?"

Kelly bit her lip again, either not having a clue or not liking the answer she was going to give. "No," she admitted. "But I know how we can."

"Really?" exclaimed Ace. "How?"

Kelly nodded slightly to herself, a plan falling into place somewhere behind her shining eyes. "Meet me where you hid your backpack at eight tomorrow night." With the very wide toothy, dangerous smile of a Cheshire cat, she continued, "We're going hunting."


	29. Creatures of the Night

**Author's Note: Yes, another update. Just finished Chapter 29. Can't help but feel excited now the climax is nearly here. I've also noted that I've passed 100 000 words and I didn't notice! *Gasp* Wow. **

**But anyways...**

**Chapter 28**

**Creatures of the Night**

'_The sad part, Ace thought, was that Kelly actually believed it when she said that.'_

Sometimes, Ace thought to herself, Kelly was the most stubborn and annoying individual she had ever met. Never telling anyone what she was thinking, always keeping you in the dark and only telling you when she had to, deliberately doing things just to prove she could or to annoy you or both, always over-thinking things when the solution was simple yet couldn't possibly be the right one and... Oh... When she thought about it like that, it sounded very familiar… Actually… Scrap that. She was the second most stubborn and annoying person Ace knew. Kelly would have to severely up her game to fight the Professor for the title of first.

But the point was still valid; Kelly could be pretty annoying when she wanted to. Like now for instance.

After slipping out of the dorm, treading silently down the stairs, sneaking out a window, using the shadows as cover, trudging out into the dark and carefully avoiding being noticed by anyone, Ace's cautiousness was rewarded by having the living daylights scared out of her when Kelly dropped suddenly out of a tree in front of her. To make matters worse, Kelly had said, "Boo," in a neutral, almost casual tone seconds after appearing, which had only freaked Ace even more. She jumped a meter high in alarm before recognising the voice and cursing rapidly but softly under her breath.

"Gordon Bennett, never do that again Kit! Never ever again."

Kelly smirked slightly. "Did I surprise you?"

Ace stared at her intently to make her disapproval known then retorted, "What do you think? A large shape drops out a tree in the middle of the night in front of you and exclaims 'Boo'; I'd like to see how you'd react!"

Kelly turned her face and it was obscured by shadows. Ace heard a sniffing sound and identified it.

"It wasn't funny, Kit," she scowled, but did not get a response.

Cursing 'Gordon Bennett' again under her breath, she began pestering Kelly about the plan. It was infuriating when she refused to give any details about where they were going at ten at night, what they were going to do when they got wherever they were going or how she'd managed to find the new hiding place of Ace's backpack so quickly. Without explanation, Kelly lead her through the trees and back to the school. Failing to get any answers from her, Ace followed Kelly, who'd walked off through the trees without warning, and slipped her badge covered jacket over her shoulders.

Both hands automatically reached into her pockets and her fingertips brushed the familiar shape and texture of her specialist equipment. She'd made sure she'd been stocked up after being caught out yesterday. It had taken her all day to fill about six medium sized cans. A few others had failed to meet her standards, but she was becoming more familiar with the modern day tools she had at her disposal. The Geeks had identified some more shock absorbent containers to prevent a repeat of the incident in the forest, but she was still cautious. She had no idea just how much strain they could survive nor did she know if the containers would actually work. She hadn't been able to shake off the fact that someone had told on her, and was unwilling to trust anyone more than she had to.

Kelly was the exception. She was the only person Ace knew for certain wasn't the culprit. Kelly had taken the betrayal personally, almost as much as Ace did herself. This was evident by the cold shoulder and piercing gaze she directed at all the girls throughout the day. The unexplained change of attitude for their usually calm and controlled Head Girl had nerved them. They had sensed something was wrong and were visibly uneasy. Whether it was an intended tactic or not, she had stirred things up by not saying anything except when necessary.

Naturally, a few rumours had grown surrounding the reason for her frostiness. Most were quite farfetched or unrealistic (Like she'd had a falling out with an unnamed secret wealthy boyfriend who had become infatuated at the sight of her after meeting their meeting in France two years previously, and either lived somewhere in America or Russia depending on the source) but in comparison, others were pretty believable.

One rumour that was that she'd caught a pair of students smoking near the chemistry lab (A big no no, because many flammable materials and goods were stored or assembled there, and Ace had heard a few Geeks mention a similar incident occurring forty years ago or so that had burnt the whole school to the ground due to some students' carelessness). Another suggested that one of the First Years traps that had the audacity to get in her way early that morning and no one had owned up to setting it. That particular rumour fitted so neatly and provided both an understandable explanation as well as an opportunity to interrogate certain individuals without being conspicuous that Ace suspected it was of Kelly's own devising.

Upon that assumption, Ace had kept her eyes and ears open during the minutes before and after Kelly passed through or by a room to see if she could find some other answers and pieces of information to assist in this investigation. Nothing of major significance had been heard, although Ace had amusingly found herself in the religious studies classroom when a girl, fifteen or so, put Kelly's mood down to her general dislike of all loud noises and the like at "A certain time of month," when said Head Girl was still within earshot. Needless to say, she swiftly regretted it when subjected to the fiery stare those brown eyes gave off once ignited. Not even Josey was thick enough to try anything that stupid although she did look happier than usual and that something that had caught Ace's interest.

Her thoughts returned to the present when she became aware that Kelly, who was walking ahead of her, wasn't wearing her normal attire. It was the return of the black clothes; long black denim looking jeans and a dark shirt accompanied by a leather jacket. Quite a nice leather jacket, Ace admitted noted, but she wasn't the slightest bit envious. She preferred her own, but maybe, just maybe, her presence at the school had influenced Kelly's choice of clothing just a bit. Completely hypothetical of course and probably just wishful thinking on her part, but Ace couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly at the idea when out of Kelly's line of sight.

Much to Ace's delight, sensible shoes had made another appearance. She couldn't help but feel energised at the sight. If heel-wearing Kelly had changed into these plain dark coloured trainers, chances are that she was planning to do a little more than go out on a short casual trip to who knew where. And that meant that she was going somewhere to do something, and that something had high chances of requiring a large amount of running and climbing that was rather difficult to accomplish in her usual footwear (Such as drop suddenly out a tree in the dark without spraining an ankle). Kelly had predicted action and had prepared for it. It was natural to deduct this and Ace's heart started pounding a little faster with excitement.

At that moment, she knew she would have followed Kelly anywhere, if only to become involved in the action. This was one of the reasons she's snuck out after Kelly in the first place despite having no idea where she might end up or what might happen. It was why she believed she'd never stop travelling in the TARDIS. The feeling you get when you step out into the unknown, the rush of running as fast as you possibly could in order to achieve something, the overwhelming sense that nothing else mattered but the here and now; that's what Ace's inner self thrived on.

So you can imagine what an anti-climax it had been when their destination was revealed to be the garage.

With a sigh of disappointment after winding herself up for the last minute or so, Ace automatically made for the keys to the minivan and went to unlock it. It had become natural to do so after being made the designated driver after all the times she'd been out albeit forcibly. It was what she'd come to expect whenever she came here. Get the key, get in the van, remember to use that thing that put it into gear, drive down the driveway, avoid the First Year's semi-completed moat and head into town. She had only just put the key in the lock when Kelly called out behind her.

"You won't be needing that."

Ace turned, confused. What she had predicted wasn't part of the plan? She glanced about. But, surely this couldn't be their final destination. It hardly justified Kelly's change of outfit. She would have had next to no difficulty getting here in her heels. She was clearly attached to her heels, almost as much as Ace was to her jacket, so changing out of them unnecessarily made no sense unless they were going to walk wherever they were going, and that had to be three times worse than driving the awful four wheeled van.

Ace complained aloud, "We're not gonna walk, are we?" while she returned the key to its hiding place

If that brief shadowed look that drifted across Kelly's face was a smile, it only lasted a fraction of a second before being contained. "If you want," she returned. "Although, I would have thought you'd prefer my method." She walked into a dark corner, coaxing Ace over with a deliberate meeting of her eyes and the rising of a single eyebrow.

Ace sensed there was something… different in the darkness, but didn't detect anything that owned creepy eyes. Still, she remained alert. Never think nothing could go wrong, because it will just to prove you wrong. Or someone might just drop out of a tree (And no, she wasn't going to let that fact go for a while yet. No, the hairs on the back of her neck were still on end thanks to that).

Kelly walked into the corner and flicked on a light. It flickered for a few seconds before casting light on a large object covered by a black tarp. While glancing back at Ace, she pulled it away. Ace's jaw dropped at the sight. Her brain whirled frantically to process what she saw and it was several seconds before she reacted.

"No way!" she cried as she rushed towards the unveiled object, hardly able to believe her eyes. "Gordon Bennett, that's brill! No, better than that. It's bloody wicked!"

"I thought you'd like it," Kelly smirked, her eyes gleaming brighter with every comment Ace made.

'Like' was a bit of an understatement for Ace couldn't tear her eyes off it. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen on two wheels. The design was practical while still showing off natural aura that radiated 'cool' in every sense of the word with its shiny blue metallic coat of paint with silver and grey highlights. Twenty years might have passed, but Ace knew a vehicle with some serious horsepower when she saw it.

"Is it yours? Where did you get it?"

Kelly blinked. Ah, she thought. She should have predicted this question however it had completely slipped her mind. She'd been too preoccupied preparing and organising the details of tonight's trip, and hadn't considered what Ace might say or ask after seeing their mode of transport.

It was almost ironic that of all the things she was ready to deal with, a simple almost off-hand question had stumped her. Yet that question was rather imposing, for how was she to answer that question particularly when the circumstances and means were quite unorthodox to say the least, and hardly believable at best? It was hardly an event she could really tell without raising a dozen possibly even more awkward questions.

"Let's just say, it came into my possession," replied Kelly sagely after a moment, gently stroking the leather seat. "I figured, since we need a ride..."

"Can I drive?" asked Ace, still awestruck, dismissing the avoided question as though the answer didn't matter.

Kelly, although sighing inside with relief at Ace's acceptance of her explanation, bit her lip. Ace, drive? After the track record of incidents happening whenever she got behind the wheel of a vehicle? No way was that going to happen.

It wasn't like Ace couldn't drive. No she could (terribly and unpolished at best, dangerous and terrifying at worst), but if (Ahem, when) something happened having another dint in the minivan was no big deal. This on the other hand...

"You don't know where we're going, and I'd rather not have to live through any repeats of what happened with the minivan," she justified carefully but honestly.

"Please?" Ace begged.

Kelly wanted to say no, really she did, but she had difficulty forming the word while facing such wide eyes filled with pleading. God, she hadn't seen a look like that since the First Years had asked her to buy some of Ace's Nitro off Flash for them (For the record, she had managed to say no, barely. She'd had to compromise by providing other explosive-making ingredients). It would steal your heart right out of your chest when you catch a glimpse of those damn puppy-dog eyes and sorrowful expression. Even a harden heart that knew full well what would happen if those two girls got their hands on a can of highly concentrated, home-made explosives.

Her heartstrings were tugged by Ace's gaze, but she had to resist the urge to comply. Unable to give a direct answer, she steered the conversation elsewhere by turned away and saying, "Not now. We've got somewhere to be."

"But where?" Ace exclaimed, disappointed and feeling left in the dark.

Kelly turned back and firmly placed a helmet into Ace's arms. "You'll find out when we get there," she answered then donned a helmet of her own.

* * *

Kelly breathed in the cool night air and absorbed the scents of the descending night as the motorbike consumed the road ahead. The night swallowed the daytime world and changed it into something wonderful. Things looked different in the dark. Objects and buildings were less defined but more fascinating in the light they received from unusual light sources like windows, street lights and the moon. The bland, lifeless streets and roads that existed during the day were transformed once dusk fell. They took on a life of their own, and venturing out into this surreal world was a bizarre experience. Suddenly, that footpath that would typically be ignored by daylight was the centre of attention because of a puddle that reflected the moon's shine.

This world under the cover of darkness was a hive of activity for those who roam in the shadows and embrace the stillness and calm atmosphere that could only be found between the hours of 9pm and 4am. While the sun slept beyond the horizon, the hidden underworld thrived. Night dwellers were, in Kelly's opinion, more intriguing, more mysterious and more alive than their day time counterparts. Some say this energy came and went with the phases of the moon, and that people often went mad under its stare, but mad had a different meaning in Kelly's dictionary. Mad was a synonym for interesting and that was never a bad thing.

Kelly admitted to feeling these energetic vibes whenever the day ended. Inside, she felt that the night was her domain. It somehow had the power to shatter the chains that often burdened her while the sun was up. The night couldn't care less who you were or what you did during the day. It was only interested in what you became in its realm. Were you one of the many who feared the dark and the unknown and cowered inside the man-made buildings to sleep the hours away until dawn? Did you sit up and look out into the dark, sensing its power but not willing to give yourself over to it? Or were you the type who'd slip out into its embrace and explore the underworld, relishing in its complexity and depth, wanting nothing more than to vanish into the night and never return?

There was just something compelling about the moon, thought Kelly. It didn't beat down hard on you like the sun. It was content to watch and did not judge you. The secrets, silence and solitude that were woven into the spell the moon cast on the world were enchanting. Having stars watching your back from above was oddly comforting and filled you with confidence. You could do anything, go anywhere, be anyone, and no one could stop you. Because the law also rested at night, and those who attempted to uphold it during night's reign were drained of strength. They weren't night creatures. Their eyes weren't made to see in the dark or detect shapes in the shadows. Their ears deceived them for all they heard was silence for hearing the bewitching melody was beyond them. They were gazelles stumbling along sightlessly, the eyes of nocturnal predators like lions and cheetahs glaring at them.

Like them, Kelly was on the hunt. She knew that but details eluded her. It should have concerned her, but for a few minutes, she forgot the problems and issues on her mind and relished in the freedom granted to her. She could drive like this forever, chase the moon across the heavens until she reached the western most edge of the country and wish it goodbye as it vanished from sight. The urge to do so was great one and Kelly longed to do just that.

She might have done so had she not felt something tap gently on her right shoulder. Kelly blinked in surprise and the enchantment of the night was broken. She had almost completely forgotten Ace's presence and her plan until that moment. 'This isn't a joy trip,' she chided herself. 'This was business, not pleasure.' Right now, she had a mission; to find the man after them and find out why. She could not allow anything to distract her. When this was over, then perhaps she could enjoy the night, but not now.

She felt the tap on her shoulder again and peered over her shoulder.

"Are we there yet?"

Kelly's muscles tensed. 'Of all the things to say to disrupt the power of the silent, peaceful night,' Kelly thought annoyed to herself.

"No," she replied curtly, keeping her attention on the road. Or, she would have liked to but Ace let go of a hand around her waist to tap her on the shoulder again.

"You know, I bet I could do some wicked stunts with this thing..."

Kelly's heart dropped like a heavy rock into a deep pool. Oh dear. The bike would have to go back into deep storage once they got back if it were to survive the week if Ace attempted some of the things she was describing.

"... and I bet your thinking I must be a terrible driver, but I'm not."

Ace felt Kelly begin to shake and was briefly puzzled by a strange sound that she could only just hear over the motorbike's engine. The moment she identified what it was, her heart leapt. Kelly had laughed. Laughed! She never laughed, at least never when Ace was around, making this an enormous breakthrough and triumphant victory on Ace's part. For weeks now she'd been testing the boundaries of Kelly's calm composition to find if it were possible for her to show amusement in a way that didn't involve a glow in her eye or a smirk or half smile. Those signs were quite rare, a genuine smile was even rarer, but laughter, that was unheard of until now.

"I'm heaps better on a bike, honest," Ace went on, and was delighted to hear the laugh again. She couldn't help but grin broadly. It was a terrific laugh, filled with emotion, and its unexpected appearance made it sound even more special and Ace pledged to cause it as frequently as possible.

Kelly managed to contain her humour a few moments later. Ace's statement kept repeating herself in her head and she smiled. 'Understatement of the year,' she thought to herself. 'And you think you're better at riding a motorbike? Whatever you want to think, but there's no way you're driving my bike, no way in hell.'

There was a pleasant silence for a few minutes, something Kelly appreciated. That is, until Ace couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer.

"How fast does this thing go?"

"Fast enough," she responded swiftly, hoping that Ace would resume her silence. Stupid idea, she later realised.

"150 miles an hour?"

She swallowed deeply. She had to keep calm. Ace couldn't help it. Her curiosity was simply too great to be controllable. Instead, it controlled her and her mouth. "Maybe. I haven't had to test its top speed."

She mentally slapped herself, realising that was an invitation.

"I could-" Ace began to offer but Kelly spoke right over her voice to correct herself before anything more could be said.

"You are not going to find out."

Ace sighed in disappointment. Then...

"Are we there yet?"

Kelly's shoulders had never felt so tense at night before, and she briefly considered using a sharp turning manoeuvre to send Ace sprawling off the bike in order to rid herself of the constant bother. Just for a moment mind you, but it was a long, thoughtful one. In the end, she reluctantly decided against it. She might scratch the paintjob.

Instead, she made the next turn a little more violent to force Ace into stopping her persistent tapping and cling tightly to her in order to keep her seat. However it did not have the intended effect. The 'Whoo' Ace gave caused Kelly to frown more. She was enjoying this a little too much for Kelly's liking.

"Do that again!"

There had to be a kind of cycle to Ace's continuous babbling, Kelly decided. It would go something like this; question, pause as she waited for an answer, another question, pause, statement, another question, extended pause as she considered the answer (If one was stupid enough to answer her question), comment, silence. Then the cycle would repeat forever and forever unless a way to shut her up was found. Kelly really wanted to find one and fast.

She felt yet another tap on her shoulder. What could it possibly be now?

"I'm hungry."

Oh yes, the 'I'm hungry'. She'd forgotten about that one. It fit right after the silence in the 'Ace Cycle'.

Tap tap, went Ace's finger.

Kelly felt herself starting to lose her nerve. "Ignore her," she muttered in a whisper.

Ace must have detected something was up for asked, "Am I annoying you, Kit?" she asked, completely ignorant of the cause of Kelly's tension.

'Yes!' screamed Kelly's inner voice. But her traitorous voice answered, "No."

Ace did not receive the mental message. "Oh ok. Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?"

The seemingly deliberate teasing resulted in Kelly resorting to Arabic to express her annoyance to the moon. "_Bl hl mn almmkn lha an tsmt_?" (Is it even possible for her to shut up?)

"_Tthdth 'eny?" _Ace inquired startled. (Are you talking about me?)

Kelly muttered an unfamiliar word under her breath. It didn't sound like any word Ace'd ever heard before, nor did she think she could pronounce it. The tone it was used with suggested it was anything but affectionate and most likely a curse of some kind. Regardless of the word's intended meaning, Ace was taken aback. She'd never heard Kelly swear before, not even in the stressful environment of the school or even when dealing with even more stressful problems that a Head Girl no doubt had to deal with. It was unexpected that a simple response had triggered this.

It was a few seconds before Kelly responded and when she did she had switched back to English. "Forgive me," she apologised, "I misspoke. I forgot that you understood Arabic."

Ace was puzzled for a moment. Arabic? What was she talking about? Unless... Oh. Right. She'd gone and spoken in another language again.

"No, it's ok," Ace told her. "I can't help but understand any language I hear."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm multilingual," Ace clarified, "according to Polly anyway, except I never learnt. If I hear someone say something, I hear it in English, even if it's not."

Kelly's eyebrows rose. "_Das ist lächerlich_." (That's ridiculous.)

Ace didn't blink. "_Ich weiß! Das klingt dumm, stimmt dass?_" (I know! It sounds stupid, doesn't it?)

The switch to German went unnoticed by her until Kelly pointed it out to her.

"Did I? I didn't notice. But, I think I just reply in whatever the last language I heard was, because I can't suddenly start a conversation in French whenever I feel like it."

Kelly pondered that as she turned around another corner, much more gently than last time. "That is strange."

Ace snorted. "Tell me about it. One minute I'm normal English speaking Ace then I swap to Spanish because I hear the Geeks practising next door. Then they all think I'm some kind of super-genius who understands a billion languages, and then get annoyed when I can't change languages at will when they ask me to."

She had a point, considered Kelly, although there was a positive to having this talent. "Neat trick, though. I'll make a note of it."

"Why?" Ace asked.

"I can make you speak Arabic."

"Again, why?"

Kelly turned her head slightly to reveal a mischievous smirk. "Because you can't stop unless I do and I find that amusing."

Ace frowned at the idea. No, that didn't sound much fun, not that she'd even notice she was doing it. However, the concept of Kelly being amused was still a new one and a happy Kelly was more likely to give answers and Ace knew she could really do with some answers now.

"Say something then," she suggested, hoping to hear that musical laugh again and maybe extract a few answers from Kelly.

Kelly said nothing.

"Go on," Ace pressured. "You know you want to."

"_Knt mjrd mhawlh ltdhkny, lyst lk?"_ she asked with a genuine grin. (You're just trying to make me laugh, aren't you?)

"_Wma alkhta fy dlk? ldyk tdhk kbyrh."_ (And what's wrong with that? You have a great laugh.)

Kelly 'hmm'ed for a moment, until she turned back to the road. "We're almost here," she informed. "It's just around the corner."

Instead of turning left to go around said corner, Kelly drove on straight for a few hundred meters before coming to a stop on the side of the road. The pair dismounted and Kelly quickly wheeled the motorbike down a narrow lane and behind a collection of bins. Having completely hidden the bike from the street, and concealed their helmets nearby, they started walking down the street. Ace thought she recognised one of the buildings.

"Isn't that pub we went to yesterday?"

Kelly nodded and replied quietly, "This is where that man found us last. Almost every time he found us, it was when we went out with the other girls. The idea is we recreate that."

So, they went into the pub, just as they did before and he'd show up? Fair enough. But when Ace began to walk towards the building, she was stopped by a hand that grabbed her arm.

"Did we ride a motorbike to the pub last time?"

Ace frowned at the seemingly odd question. "No."

"Did we go alone?"

Understanding dawned on her. "No. We didn't."

"So we wait."

Ace thought she'd finally grasped the plan. Only she realised she was missing a few details such as, "What is it that we're waiting for again?"

Kelly's sigh was a mixture of frustration and disappointment. "The others to show up."

"Huh-?" began Ace, but Kelly quickly placed a hand over her mouth and pulled her from the sidewalk and into an alleyway. A low sound grew in strength as a familiar minivan rounded the corner and stopped a few meters away from the pub. The pair watched as the Posh Totty trio exited the van, talking energetically to themselves, followed by Andrea and Taylor. The sight of the last girl to get out was a surprise, at least for Ace. Polly had never gone out with them before. That was not the only strange thing about the scene. The Geek walked around to the door to follow them before stopping to briefly look left and right.

Something sticky and cold was pressed into Ace's left ear and she shivered involuntary. She turned to find Kelly putting her fingers in her own ear. Before she could ask, Polly's voice sounded in the ear and Ace jumped. "All clear. Good luck girls."

Kelly smirked at Ace's reaction. Ace glanced at Kelly's ear and caught a glimpse of something that resembled a small headphone. Kelly smiled slightly after seeing her notice and spoke quietly into a tiny black (And previously unseen) microphone attached to her jacket.

"Thanks Polly."

"No problem, Kel," replied a voice in Ace's ear and she shivered again. It felt a bit weird to have someone speak directly into your ear like that.

When next Ace looked, Polly had left, presumably having followed the others inside.

Twenty minutes later, a police car slowly drifted down the street. Ace's pulse quickened, but she kept still. The driver's lack of hair was revealed when he stepped under a streetlight. It was definitely the guy they were after.

"Wait until he comes out," whispered Kelly, somehow reading her thoughts.

Ace stared at her. Kelly really did speak like the Professor at times like this. That was exactly what he had said last time.

She sighed and muttered, "All I ever do is wait," to herself.

* * *

"You understand the plan?" Kelly asked having explained said plan yet again.

Ace rolled her eyes. "Alright, I get it! You only have to explain once!"

"Better to be sure."

The pair sat in silence for a moment, both gazing at the door to the pub.

"Of course," Ace went on, "you do realise the plan isn't going to work."

Kelly turned to her. "And why's that?"

Ace blinked in confusion. Wasn't it obvious? Surely Kelly had experienced for herself how things don't like to happen according to plan.

"It's only plan A, you see, and they never ever work out perfectly."

"This will be the exception."

The sad part, Ace thought, was that Kelly actually believed it when she said that. But the odds were against her. Hell, the Universe even. Nothing had even gone exactly to plan without some error or unexpected event occurring since Ace had been kicked out of her old school. Ok, so maybe she'd considered running away from home, but riding a Time Storm to Iceworld definitely hadn't been her intended escape route. Given that and the countless other plans she'd been involved in that had been blown out the window during her travels through time and space, it seemed incredibly unlikely that this plan would go off without a hitch.

Kelly either had been very lucky with all her plans or was keeping a part of the plan to herself, only to be put into place if required. The later did sound like something she would do, but, as the great plan creator had said herself, 'Better to be sure'.

"When everything goes mad-" Ace began but she was interrupted.

"'If' everything goes mad," corrected Kelly, still sounding very confident.

"-when everything goes mad as it always does," continued Ace, "we forget the plan and move on plan B."

"And what's plan B?" asked Kelly, almost as if to humour her.

"Run," answered Ace simply.

"And if we can't run?"

"Hide."

"And if we can't hide?"

Well, there were a dozen other options but each was less likely to lead to success than the last. "Worry about that when we get there."

Ace twitched uneasily as a voice whispered in her ear. "Kelly, he's on the move."

"Right, thanks," Kelly replied, before directing Ace with a finger. "Now go. And don't do anything stupid."

"Me?" exclaimed Ace in mock horror. "Do something stupid? Come on, Kit. Am I the kind of person who'd do that on purpose?"

The rising of an eyebrow and a pointed look answered that question. Ace just grinned back and quietly made her way across the road. Mirroring Kelly's actions, she slid out of view from the pub door. Without really thinking about it, she started shuffling on the spot and stretched a bit.

"He's leaving now," informed Polly in Ace's ear.

As she leant against the wall her heart raced, anticipating her future actions. In the dark the door creaked open. She longed the peer around the corner but forced herself to look sideways towards Kelly. A thumbs up signal; it was definitely him.

She'd count to ten then go. Each second felt like hours as footsteps sounded on the footpath, heading in the opposite direction. One... Two... She swallowed to moisten her throat. Three... Four... Five... Suddenly six seemed too long and she stepped out into the shadows.

"Looking for someone?"

Her voice caused the policeman to stop dead in his tracks and turn to face her. The shadows hid her features well for his eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness. As the plan required, she moved into the light created by the streetlight.

"Me, maybe?"

It was clear he recognised her, for the moment the light revealed her face, he started moving towards her. But Kelly had predicted that. Ace took off like an athlete down the 100 meter track after the gun went off. He quickened his pace too, and his speed was startling for someone his age. He was almost as fast as she was, but she had a head start and the energy of a teenager on her side. Ace's senses slowly eased off, granting priority to her sight and hearing. The most important thing was to not let him catch her until they reached the location.

If there were two things she was good at it was blowing stuff up and running. So it should have been easy to keep a fair distance from him. He wasn't exactly the fittest person she'd ever met, because he had to be at least 30. About a block and a half from the start, Ace felt herself shift into her second wind. At this new speed, she could cover long flat distances pretty quickly. However, when she looked back to see how much ahead she was, she was shocked to find him much closer than she'd predicted. He hadn't slowed at all, and didn't seem to be tiring even a little bit.

Instead of turning left at the first cross street she reached, Ace turned right then left down an alleyway. He could clearly run fast in a straight line, so turning and rounding corners ought to be more difficult. She tested this theory by making several sudden turns in a row, still heading towards the final destination. Slipping between parked cars was effective but he kept making up the distance.

'What the hell?' thought Ace in alarm. 'This guy just doesn't stop! After running this far and so fast, there's no way he can't be nearly exhausted by now. But he's not even slowing down!'

After jumping two waist height picket fences to cut a corner, Ace realised she was in trouble. He was way too fast and way too agile for a man in his late thirties, early forties. He was gaining on her, and not even Ace's zigzagging tactics were doing anything to slow him down. Something was very wrong and she knew it. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This should have been easy. This should have been a game of cat and mouse, and the mouse should be winning. But it wasn't, she wasn't and this was no normal cat. This one had rockets strapped to its back legs like in a cartoon and it was only a matter of time before the mouse was eaten alive.

And had Kelly planned for this? Nooo. Had it been any other situation, Ace would have been amused at how Kelly's plan had (as predicted) 'gone mad', but she was too busy panting and bolting away as fast as she could. How could he be keeping up this pace? Even she was struggling to maintain her current speed, and she did this all the time! Being able to run far and fast was part of the job description of being someone who saves the world. Just who was this guy? He's just a policeman. Sure, he'd probably chased a few criminals as part of his job, but that didn't make him a super athlete as he clearly was. He shouldn't have a chance of catching her, yet he was practically breathing down her neck.

In other words, things had well and truly gone wrong.

Ace's inner voice whispered the fated words she'd heard time and time again when all hell broke loose; 'I think it's time for Plan B.'

Those words were the trigger that set Plan B into motion. The switch was quick, immediate and effortless. She and Plan B were good friends. They knew each other extremely well and frequently bumped into each other when Ace abandoned poor old Plan A. Admittedly this Plan A had involved running too, but Plan B running was different. It was running with only one goal; to get the hell out of there. Plan A was all set out, a nice neat plan with steps to follow in a chronological order. Plan B said to hell with the plan and was all about instinct.

Going against Kelly's strict direction of not drawing attention to herself, Ace shoved the closest garbage bin over. She heard it clatter to the ground behind her. It might have stopped him for a second, but she didn't dare look back. Running as fast as she could down another alleyway, she tried to create as many obstacles as possible. She noticed a broom handle or something of a similar shape ahead and snatched it as she passed. When she reached an open stretch and he was directly behind her, Ace flung the broom behind her. An 'oofff' indicated that it made contact with the policeman. With a slight smile, she turned her head to catch a glimpse. Yep, she'd got him all right-

Suddenly an object leapt into her path. With a half-startled cry, she fell forwards towards the ground to meet the pavement. The stomach first landing shoved the breath out of her but she desperately scrambled to her feet. He was already standing over her. The second she felt a hand grab the back of her collar, her whole body rebelled against the restriction. Her arms flew everywhere making contact with whatever she could, her elbow struck out repeatedly and she slammed her foot down on his toes. Still he refused to let go. She tried tugging away, twisting to try and loosen his vice grip.

As she continued to struggle an arm forced her head and neck back, restricting her air supply. The forced submission into a vulnerable position caused a flame to burst alight inside Ace. Her senses twitched uncontrollably, and her eyes picked up weaknesses of his grip. Without her instructing it to do anything her body acted on its own and swang to the left in one sharp movement. Her hands reached behind her and slammed themselves into the sides of his head. The pressure on her throat eased immediately and she twisted out of the headlock, stabbing her elbow into his gut.

He buckled away and Ace was free to run, only to find she no longer had any control as she slowly approached him like a predator taunting its wounded target. 'No,' she willed herself. 'I have to run. Leave him, just run!'

The policeman wasn't content to sit there and wait for her. With a sudden burst of speed, he rose, ran forward and forced her against a brick wall. The strength of the shove made Ace's knees give way and she found the floor with a bump and crumpled into a heap. Dazed, she peered into the dark and a puddle of water not far from her caught her attention. The image was blurry but her eyes met a pair of yellow pupils. Her heart nearly stopped as she understood what she saw. All the fight drained out of her. What use was there fighting when she had ultimately lost? It didn't matter what happened now, it was already over. She'd lost the most important battle of her life.

She didn't know what to think of her continued ability to think. She could still hear, see and feel, but was powerless. She couldn't move or speak, trapped within her own body. Did that mean she was doomed to watch herself do things she had no control over?

He peered at her, and tilted his head slightly. He didn't understand why she'd given up the fight, and expected her to make another break for it. 'Go on them,' Ace thought. 'You've won. Lock me up, throw me in prison. I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore.'

Her opinion changed the moment she caught sight of the object he reached for. For an object with such negative and deadly intentions it was bizarre how it seemed to be one last chance, one last hope.

Somehow her thoughts exited her throat. "Do it."

* * *

The trap had been all set and ready for Ace to hurry up and lead her follower here. Kelly waited patiently in the shadows, appearing as calm as a tree slowly swaying in the breeze. Her calmness lasted until she heard a sound that would be equivalent to that of a chainsaw if the said tree had ears. The sound was metallic, but that was where the similarities ended.

The first thought that came to Kelly's mind was, 'I told her not to cause any loud noises!' When more loud noises followed, another thought appeared. 'This is deliberate.' That was not good. Very not good. Bad even.

She had to investigate now.

She bolted towards the sounds like she was a homing pigeon. Just before she reached an intersection, the sounds stopped for a moment before a cry rang out. Kelly's blood ran cold and chilled even further when she rounded the corner and saw Ace in a heap on the footpath, the policeman standing over her. Unable to afford to waste a second, Kelly sprinted towards the scene at near cheetah speed. If her alarm bells weren't already ringing at full strength, they shattered the millisecond he touched his holster. Her thoughts were no longer coherent as she narrowed the fifty meters distance between her and the man who was pointing a gun at one of her girls.

As a sound punctured the air, Kelly's rage exploded like ten cans of Nitro in a tightly enclosed space. A nuclear apocalypse occurred inside her mind. Any remains of composure or self control were incinerated by the blast, as was the word mercy. Without a single drop of pity, she unleashed her raw anger upon her target. She launched herself at him with a jump side kick, completely blind-siding him. The blow was deadly accurate, as it deserved to be, and the force certainly broke several ribs. Experiencing immerse pain, he toppled to the ground like a domino, the gun flying from his grip to land somewhere on the pavement. He had barely recovered from the first blow when Kelly, filled with fury, bent down and slammed the back of her fist into the centre of his face.

A sickening crack rang out and a trail of blood started running down his face. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs but not a sound could escape the death grip around her throat. 'Murderer!' she wanted to cry as she struck him again. 'You killed her, and you will suffer eternally for that! When you reach the afterlife even hell will seem like a nice place!'

As if reading her thoughts he retaliated with a kick to the gut, which Kelly narrowly avoided by jolting backwards. The step back put her on the defensive and she used open knife-hand strikes to divert punches. He attempted to get past her defences twice but any blows that landed were only glancing. Kelly, too busy trying to read his actions before they occurred, did not notice that he only struck with the one hand until his other hand groped at the dark and curled around the handle of the gun.

He managed to sit up on his side as she ran forward to disarm him. At point blank range, his index finger tensed and the barrel flashed. Instead of the bullet she expected to tear through her neck, she felt a sudden prick before an electrical current conducted through her. Her legs collapsed beneath her and her body quickly met the cold ground. Pins and needles crawled all over her and forced every muscle to spasm uncontrollably. She could see her arm twitching in front of her, and no amount of effort could make it stop or permit her to move.

Yet it felt like a bucket of freezing cold water had been thrown over her, bringing her to her senses. The weapon he held wasn't a gun as she had presumed but a stun gun. The implications of that took the edge off her rage. Her worst fears were nullified. It was a nonlethal weapon, and she was experiencing the same thing Ace had because he hadn't had enough time to change the settings on the weapon. This amount of electricity was not enough to kill. It could only immobilise or stun, possibly knock someone out at worst. Ace was alive.

Overwhelming relief flooded through her. That moment he fired the weapon, Kelly's world had crashed down. She had gotten someone killed, she was the reason they were dead, and they had been her responsibility. Discovering that wasn't the case was like being thrown a lifeline in the middle of the ocean.

The source of her immobility was returned to its holster. She was powerless to do anything now, and, as much as she preferred it to being a real gun and being shot by a real bullet, she sure as hell didn't like it. With nothing else to resort to, she glared at him as fiercely and darkly as possible. The man wasn't fazed at all. Didn't say a word, or even meet her eyes, just stood there like a tall shadow over her. The last time she'd been this close to this man he had also pointed a gun at her, a proper gun. She did not find it funny how things had repeated themselves.

The man pulled out a radio and a few minutes later, a dark green or grey van showed up and four men dressed in military style clothing appeared. The soldiers, for that's what they appeared to be, appeared a little surprised to find two girls dressed in black and leather immobilised of the sidewalk beside the policeman. Only he wasn't a policeman, Kelly observed, for the soldiers saluted him, indicating he was a higher rank. Soldiers didn't salute policeman, nor did they follow their orders.

She struggled to hear where they were being taken but she heard nothing but humming in her ears. When two soldiers approached her, she found she could move her toes and fingers, barely. Her vision swam when they deposited her into the back of the van. Ace's prone body joined her a few moments later before the door slammed shut and bolts slid across. Trapped, but Kelly was not one to give up even if she wasn't going to be conscious much longer. After frantically wiggling her fingers to bring some feeling back into them she extended her arm and felt for Ace's pulse, just in case. Still beating, good.

Satisfied that Ace was fine and unharmed, she then reached a hand into one of Ace's jacket pockets hoping to find a mobile phone of some kind. Calling for help wasn't an option because she wouldn't risk anyone else getting involved, but she might be able to track their movements. It could prove to be invaluable when they made their escape, as they inevitably would.

For a moment, it seemed like there was nothing in Ace's pocket but then she felt something in the shape of a cylinder and pulled it out. Nitro, not what she wanted. She tried again and felt another can. Another Nitro can, still not what she wanted. She searched a third time and her frown deepened as her fingers made contact with yet another metal canister and removed it. How much Nitro did she have with her? It was amazing that two cans fit in the one pocket, let alone three.

Closer examination of Ace's jacket only added to Kelly's confusion. The stitching of the pockets had been done by hand, possibly modified by Ace herself, but the pockets were only a hand deep. They had seemed larger than that. In fact... Kelly compared the size of the Nitro cans to the pocket. She blinked.

'That can't be right,' she thought to herself.

Not quite sure what she expected to find, she searched the pocket again. Her fingers entered then her hand then half her lower arm and when her elbow vanished, Kelly was totally bewildered. This wasn't possible. The other pockets were the same; impossibly big.

She was just seeing things, she concluded. Being on the verge of unconsciousness was sure to do that. She couldn't explain her reasoning behind emptying her own pockets and putting them into Ace's, but she did. Then everything went black.


	30. Things Just Got Complicated

**Author's Note: Yes, it's been a while. Not that it really justifies the lack of updating, this chapter contains plot. Lots of plot. And (so long as I haven't stuffed up somewhere) it should explain a bit. Not everything, but a lot. **

**Enjoy.**

**Chapter 29**

**Things Just Got Complicated**

''_Just' implied something less than expected. It suggested someone had overestimated_

_the situation and it would be less challenging that ensured a victory._

_There was nothing 'just' about a St Trinian girl.'_

Ace woke up staring at a white ceiling and, after glancing left and right only to see featureless white walls, groaned. Hello cell. Can't say I'm glad to see you.

Memory slowly returned as she stared at the ceiling. She'd been running from that policeman then he had caught her and then an image shoved the others aside to capture her attention. A flicker of yellow reflected in a puddle of water...

Ace bolted upright and stared at her hands. She took in the detail of her familiar scarred hands, her human hands. No fur, no claws and, after a quick check, no tail. She sighed in relief. She hadn't changed. Then, what had she seen? A trick of the light? Or had she really been that close to losing her humanity? She recalled her body acting on its own beyond her control. Could that have been the Cheetah Virus taking over or just her own instincts trying to help her escape?

Whatever had happened to her had stopped but it might return at any time, she realised with a shiver. But that didn't explain how she'd gotten here, wherever here was. Ace then recalled a gun. She'd been shot? It didn't feel like there was a bullet longed in her gut, although she did feel very cramped with a very tender red spot on her arm. So, it hadn't been a gun, at least not a proper bullet shooting one. So what had got her? The more she thought about it, the more detail she recalled about the object that he'd pointed at her. It had looked like a gun but didn't shoot bullets.

Her brain whirled to put all the facts together. It had to be an energy weapon. Except people don't have energy weapons in the 21st Century, meaning it had to be alien. The policeman knew how to operate it, making him an alien, or at least someone who knew a thing or two about alien weaponry. If he was an alien, then that explained why he was so bloody fast! But why had he (or she, or even it) been after her? Sure, she'd met lots of aliens and quite a few of them had tried to catch and kill her but that was usually after she'd done something to annoy them. As far as she could remember, she hadn't done anything to annoy him (or her, or it… Too confusing. Stick to 'he' for now). Admittedly she had thrown a smoke bomb at him, but he'd been after her before that.

If he wasn't an alien, then who was he? Why was he after her? Apart from drinking and driving while underage (Although not at the same time), carrying a false I.D and explosives, using a smoke bomb on a police officer and resisting arrest from said officer twice, she hadn't done anything.

Maybe that sounded like a lot...

Something in the corner of her eye drew her attention. Kit! Ace rushed over to her. Just unconscious, thank goodness. After a brief examination for injuries and the cause of Kelly's unconsciousness, Ace found a nasty red mark on the base of her neck. After examining herself, she found a similar mark on her arm. Kelly had been hit by the energy weapon too?

But what was she doing here? Ace pondered that as she watched Kelly breathe. She couldn't remember seeing her. How had she been shot? She hadn't been around when that guy he'd caught her. Unless, Ace realised with a jolt, she heard all the noise I made and came running, knowing something had gone wrong, to try and help me. Running into trouble regardless of the consequences; that's something I would do. She's getting as bad as me.

Although she could hardly take credit for Kelly's actions, she couldn't help but feel proud of her. It was only then she realised she was in a bit of a dilemma. She should probably try to wake Kelly up to make sure she was alright and find out what on earth she was doing here but if she did she'd risk receiving a nasty slap from an angry Kelly. Sure, Kelly's glare had often suggested violence would occur if she didn't stop, or hurry up and start, something but that unspoken threat had never been carried out (yet). So it should be safe to wake her, right?

She decided to just wait for a bit and see what happened, just in case. As usual, five minutes later she'd grown tired of the silence and changed her mind.

"Kit?" she whispered, gently pocking her arm. There was no response. She tried again. "Kit?" Still nothing so she poked harder. "Wake up."

She didn't respond to the firm shaking or repeated clicking in her ear. Ace searched her pockets for something with a smell that might bring her around. Nitro, nope. More Nitro, nope. She pulled out another silver canister and frowned at it. That's odd, she thought baffled. This isn't Nitro. Some kind of nozzle was attached to the top, like one found on a bug spray. It was not labelled and for that reason she eyed the canister warily. Should she find out what was inside? No, she decided. It's not mine, best not to touch it, although I really really want to. One thing's for sure; I sure didn't put it in my jacket pocket. So who did?

The unknown can wasn't the only thing in her pockets she didn't recognise; a packet of gum, a bent paperclip, quite a few hairpins and a USB. How had they got there? Regardless, none of the items would help her wake Kelly up (Unless she wanted to blow out her ear drums with a Nitro explosion) so she put everything back into the innermost pocket of her jacket except for a single can of Nitro that returned to its rightful place in her side pocket for easy access.

There had to be another way to wake her. An idea came to her. What about a different kind of verbal command like something she heard more often than 'wake up'?

"Kit, the twins found some explosives and are trying to blow up the garage, and Andrea and Taylor are fighting in the corridor again, and I think Chelsea's left the hairdryer on in her wardrobe!"

Kelly's eyelids twitched and a slight groan left her mouth. "Not the hairdryer."

Ace beamed as Kelly opened her eyes and blinked four times in confusion.

"What…" she began, quickly taking in the cell walls, "Where…?"

"No idea," Ace answered honestly with a shrug. "What happened?"

A puzzled look crossed the other girl's face. Her frown indicated she was a bit concerned about not remembering. She slid herself along the floor to put her back to one of the walls and bit her lip, thinking. Her eyes continued to take in all the details of the room as though they would provide her with answers.

"I remember," she began, "this noise then..." Her eyes lit up suddenly. "You were shot!" she exclaimed suddenly as she remembered. "And so was I. Some kind of stun gun…"

"Energy weapon," Ace corrected without thinking.

Kelly blinked. "What?"

Ace swallowed slowly. "I've been thinking about it, and it has to be some kind of electrical energy weapon."

"A stun gun," repeated Kelly then realised that Ace wouldn't have a clue what that was. "They're a non-lethal weapon used instead of guns," she explained. "It fires a metal wire at the target that conducts electricity."

"Do they leave a mark like this?" Ace showed her the red mark on her arm.

Kelly shrugged. "I've never been shot by one before so I wouldn't know. I'd rather not get hit by one again either."

So it isn't an alien gun, Ace thought to herself, it's just some 21st Century technology I've never seen before.

Just as she started to relax the door to the cell opened. Both girls jumped to their feet. A man wearing a red beret and dark green military uniform stood there, arms at his side and a stun gun attached to his belt. Ace immediately recognised the clothing and the winged logo attached to his uniform.

He's with U.N.I.T. We're inside a U.N.I.T base!

An unpleasant tingle touched her spine. The U.N.I.T she'd met before hadn't been armed with energy weapons or 'stun guns', nor had they shot at civilians or taken them captive. Sure, they'd been rather trigger-happy and used brute force to get things done but things must have changed dramatically since then to resort to such extremes like firing electrical weapons on sight. This was bad, very bad. Being around disorganised, partially blind to the obvious and trigger-happy soldiers was one thing. Being a prisoner of a group of clearly more intelligent and more aggressive trigger-happy soldiers who'd shoot you if you so much as breathed the wrong way was a whole different can of worms.

That was bad enough but Ace's heart sank even further into despair as she reached the conclusion that it had been U.N.I.T who had been after her the whole time. 'Mr Policeman' actually wasn't a policeman but an undercover U.N.I.T agent. It was the only explanation about ending here after being caught by him.

But what had she done to annoy them? What did they want her for? Did they even know who she was? Probably, she realised, but where does that leave Kit? She'd hardly be on their records. 'Mr Policeman' had been after me, not her. Yet here she is, with a mark to prove she'd been shot too. But, Ace remembered with a jolt that the third time she'd met him, Kelly had been at gun point. He'd wanted something from her. Was that the reason she was here too?

"What do you want?" Ace asked in a loud, defiant voice.

The soldier looked directly at her. "You, with me." Kelly stepped forward and put herself between Ace and the soldier. "No, not you. Just her."

Ace was no mind reader but she could imagine the thoughts that went through Kelly's head; 'I don't think so' being one of them. However her body language couldn't have been any more contradictory. Confidence shrouded her as always, but her usual calculating and assertive aura had diminished to near undetectable and her aggressive behaviour was now only a faint memory. It was like someone had flicked on a switch to put her under a spotlight to attract your attention. The light made it impossible to drag your eyes away; a deliberate act, Ace noticed, yet the reasoning behind it escaped her comprehension.

Something about the whole situation made Ace think of Flash. Odd that she would be reminded of that curly weasel at a time like this. He was hardly relevant right now. Why was she was reminded of that now...?

One look at the soldier provided the answer and a light bulb went off in her head. Oh.

She realised why she'd made the unconscious comparison. That look of total enchantment, she'd seen it every time on Flash's face the moment he caught sight of Kelly. Ace turned her head to the side and rubbed at an eye. This wasn't awkward to watch at all. Not a bit. Not even a tiny little bit. There was just something in her eye. It had nothing to do with Kelly's (Ahem!) particular voice or the way she walked somewhat swagger-ish-ly towards the soldier or the way he just kind of stared at her with a mouth you could fit a golf ball into.

"I'm sure they won't mind me coming along."

"Ah..." stuttered the solider. "I..."

Ace couldn't be sure but she thought she caught a glimpse of Kelly's tongue slowly moistening her lips before quickly turning away again. Yep, she thought to herself, Flash would be having kittens right now if he was here.

* * *

"Search them."

The pair remained still and allowed themselves to be searched. Resisting, both had concluded, was not a good idea when there are two soldiers with stun guns pointed at them and another two outside in the corridor. Unlike Ace who glared at the soldier searching her, Kelly used the opportunity to examine the room.

Current Location: An office belonging to a general or a high ranked official of some kind in an unknown building in an unknown area. Surrounded by the enemy whose intentions are unknown but likely hostile. No memorable land marks within sight through the large glass windows.

Exits: One door, four windows; two that could be opened but both too small.

Time: No clocks visible. Lighter patch of sky to the far left; east. Approximately 5:30-6am.

Area: Last location was south-eastern London around 11:40pm. Possibly several hundred miles from there.

Threats: Two stun guns within range on either side. Gun holstered but within range directly ahead. Other armed soldiers within hearing distance.

Chances of Escape: Low. 15-20%. Even less if a way couldn't be found to remove the handcuffs that joined them together.

Conclusion: Too risky. Remain alert and wait for a more opportune moment.

Kelly finished her detailed assessment as a soldier pulled a can of Nitro 9 out of Ace's pocket. For a moment she had forgotten where her own belongings were then her heart beat faster when the search of Ace's pockets revealed nothing more. Nothing had been taken from her pockets because there was nothing there, but her eyes subtly searched the table for all a pile of belongings that had been confiscated. Just the can of Nitro. That was all. But what about everything else? Kelly remembered putting all her own things into Ace's pockets, but none of that had been brought out.

She tried not to look interested in the searching of Ace's pockets. Honestly though, how could she not? She had not forgotten their impossible depth and size, but was that just an illusion brought about by being on the verge of unconsciousness as she'd initially thought. She scolded herself for that line of thought. Of course it was. Pockets can't possibly be bigger inside than outside.

But the search ended a few seconds later. The only confiscated item was the Nitro can which a soldier waved in front of Ace's face, unaware of how his actions were tormenting the already furious girl.

"What's this?"

Ace kept silent but Kelly noted her fingers were twitching slightly. She really wanted to snatch it out of his hands but having a stun gun pointed at your chest was a strong enough deterrent. There were many things that could cause her rage to spark but this must really make her blood boil. Trapped, powerless and being tormented by the sight of her beloved Nitro in the enemy's hands.

When his question was unanswered, the soldier glanced at his superior, the large man with various different stripes attached to his uniform. The man nodded and the soldier, blissfully ignorant of what he was about to unleash, reached for the top. Kelly, hardly a stranger to the destructive power a can found in Ace's possession could possess, chose to intervene.

"I wouldn't do that," Kelly suggested in a meaningful tone.

She didn't warn him out of sympathy; for they had just shot her and Ace with stun guns, shoved them into the back of a van and were currently holding them prisoner; but because she had seen enough Nitro explosions to know the blast would also risk injuring herself and Ace if the idiot did set it off.

The man with the stripes looked at her as if she was about to confess everything. "And why's that?"

Explaining was hardly a valid option. That would be like leaving a hair straighter in the Posh Totty wardrobe. Like leaving her motorbike in the garage without at least four fist-sized padlocks and constant supervision. Like giving the First Years coffee ten minutes before sending them off to bed. Like handing the twins a list of instructions about how to make their own Nitro.

"Actually..." began one of the stun gun wielders, shifting uncomfortably on the spot as though picturing two ten year olds selling homemade explosives on the black market, "That's probably not the best idea, sir."

Oh, thought Kelly, you have no idea.

"Domino mentioned an explosive device being used in a previous escape."

The superior officer regarded the can for a moment and finally decided to stick to the cautious side. "Take it to the labs and have it analysed."

The soldier holding the can, suddenly realising what might potentially be inside, carefully left the room, Kelly's eyes at his back as he went.

The man in charge walked around his large desk to stand directly in front of them. "So you're the cat burglars then," he commented, taking a long look at them.

Ace tried to hide the little twitching smirk at the word 'cat' and Kelly mentally rolled her eyes. Of course she'd find that funny. Even when surrounded by people with guns pointed at them, she could still find something to be amused by. It wouldn't be much of a wild guess to assume she was also starting to feel hungry, because, as she said, she's used to being fed "After this kind of stuff". Apart from having a gun pointed at her, Ace looked quite... relaxed, something only an old hand who'd seen and done it all before could achieve.

Kelly was an old hand too. Only she was sane and, naturally, a bit concerned about their current situation. As for Ace... Well that was questionable.

"You're certain it's them?" hesitantly inquired a soldier standing to the side. Kelly met his eyes as he took in the would-be cat burglars' age and appearance; seventeen and deceptively young for someone in their thirties respectfully. "I mean..." he coughed, possibly ashamed to question his superior's theory. "They're just girls."

Kelly smiled inside. 'Just girls'. She'd heard that one before.

It was a typical comment directed at her company by those who did not know why others cringed at the name 'St Trinian's'. The younger they were the more likely she'd hear it. It was perfectly natural for people to see a large group of 10 to 12 year old girls muttering amongst themselves and think nothing of it. Of course most girls that age would be discussing pop stars, T.V shows and the like, not devising plans to hold up a candy store or how to hotwire a car to use as a getaway (Kelly maintained that you should at least be able to see over the dashboard in order to drive, but that was only necessary if you didn't have a co-pilot to navigate). The Chavs and Emos weren't too much different. Yes, they were noticed a lot more but they were generally streetwise enough to make it almost impossible to prove they had anything to do with the numerous missing cosmetic items or the odd unconscious beauty queen locked in the bathroom.

'Just' was hardly an accurate description of her girls. 'Just' implied something less than expected. It suggested someone had overestimated the situation and it would be far less challenging and that victory was assured.

There was nothing 'just' about a St Trinian girl.

"These girls," the officer replied with a stone face, "managed to sneak past state of the art surveillance technology, a dozen armed patrols, four highly trained dogs, nine level 2 security clearance access doors and," he consulted a paper resting on the desk to check his facts, "a solid steel vault without damaging it in any way before making their escape."

Nice, thought Kelly genuinely impressed, very nice. Now she'd heard about the security, she felt the urge to have a go at sneaking in and cracking open that safe herself. That would be something she would proudly admit to had she done it. But she hadn't and she was surprised to find she was feeling a bit regretful about that.

The solider was, understandably, shocked at the statement and the officer scowled at him. "Never judge by appearances, Sergeant Finn," he reprimanded.

Ace, who'd been unnaturally quiet for the last few minutes, scowled in confusion. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

The officer met her eyes with a glare. "The pair of you are charged with breaking into U.N.I.T base Kardina and stealing classified artefacts."

"Stealing?" cried Ace.

"U.N.I.T?" exclaimed Kelly just as horrified.

The next three minutes were a blur to Kelly. She didn't hear the officer recite protocols at them or Ace's back-chatting, only the name 'U.N.I.T' over and over again inside her head. The Unified Intelligence Taskforce, the top secret organisation with such extreme network defence that it had taken Polly eight hours to get into.

And she was inside one of their bases! As a prisoner!

Words could not describe how bad things were right now. This was quite easily the worst situation Kelly had ever been in. The policeman was with U.N.I.T (Mistake 1), he'd wanted Ace (Mistake 2) and she had practically been delivered into his outstretched arms (Mistake 3). But why? Why was a U.N.I.T officer after her? She glanced at Ace. What the hell have you done? Ace admitted before that she had no idea why she was being chased, and she hadn't been lying. Kelly knew this because Ace was a terrible liar but that wasn't the only reason.

Kelly trusted her.

Coming from a person all too aware that trust was a double-edged weapon that acknowledgement was an achievement. Trust was a liability. Respect was often the closest thing to that when living with anarchists. You respected others because of their abilities or achievements. That did not constitute trust. Trust required having faith in another person, believing they do the right thing, hoping it would benefit you too or at least not hinder you. Betrayal only came about when trust was broken, yet if there was no trust there was no loyalty or shared victory.

The negative attachments to such a bond were dangerous. Kelly had learnt to keep her distance. Betrayal or the threat of it hurt too much. It could shatter your world. It is better to be respected for who you are and what you've done than to risk everything for something that might not last or what might scar you for the rest of your life.

Yet, despite that, she trusted Ace. It hadn't been a gradual thing either, although it had taken a while for her to acknowledge its existence. The moment she'd first caught sight of her, beaten and bruised, she couldn't help but notice her interest had been ensnared. Ace was just so... frank. She couldn't care less whose toes she stepped on either, and that was both a good thing and a bad thing.

You always knew where you stood with her and Kelly liked that. If she didn't like you she would tell you so with no uncertain terms. If she respected you she'd let you know by listening. Or you could compare the nickname she'd given you to the ones she'd given others. The more she used it, the more honest and genuine her grin was when you frowned at its use, the more she liked you. Comparing 'Kit' to 'Copper' it was clear to see which was meant to be more affectionate. 'Copper' referred only to Josey's hair, while Ace had justified 'Kit' by comparing Kelly's typical appearance to that of a cat. The later was far more meaningful and thought out, while being dubbed 'Copper' was simple and derogatory.

Not everyone had been granted a nickname however. On no occasion had Ace referred to Polly or Andrea as anything other than their actual names (Taylor however was 'Hamster Hoops', if Kelly's guess was correct). Perhaps she didn't think any other name suited them or had no idea what to call them. Giving fifty odd girls different names had to be hard, so she had probably just stuck to a few.

Another thing Kelly liked about Ace was how people reacted to her. Josey combusted at the sight of her, the First Year's (The twins in particular) eyes gleamed whenever they heard her name, that English teacher (Whose name she had long since forgotten having seen many teachers come and go just as quickly) had been annoyed and horrified by her behaviour and actions while Miss Fritton just laughed. You just never knew how people would react to her.

The current situation was no exception.

The officer behind the desk took a deep breath before addressing Ace for what had to be the fifth time. "Tell us the location of the objects and we might consider-"

Ace rolled her eyes to the roof, her temper close to getting the better of her. "Are you thick or what? A kid could have figured it out by now but you're too stupid to listen! We didn't do it!"

The officer fumed and his face began to turn hot red. Ah, thought Kelly, another combustible.

"Begging your pardon sir," interrupted a soldier seeing how dire things were getting (and possibly a bit concerned about his superior's blood pressure levels), "but this is going nowhere. Perhaps if we sent them to Domino he might be able to-"

"Fine," the officer spat. "Send them to Domino or a cell, I don't care. Just get that... that girl out of my sight."

A perfect example of how Ace's terribly blunt manner can cause tensions to soar, thought Kelly as they were quickly escorted out of the room.

* * *

Typical stupid military. Everything has to be protocol and by the book, all yes sir, no sir. And they are always right of course. Find someone to blame, lock them away, then everyone goes home happy. What was that? Truth? Justice? No, none of that here, it gets in the way. Some things just don't change.

Absentmindedly she tugged at the handcuff and caused Kelly to lurch forward and glare at her. Ace didn't take much notice, deep in her own thoughts. Sure she'd been shot at, held at sword and gun point and chased by dangerous alien creatures that fired lasers out of its eyes, but she'd never been handcuffed or tied up before. The various methods of being threatened somehow seemed to be milestones of her travels (Was that pessimism or acceptance of the fact?). Now the handcuffs were out of the way, being properly tied up with ropes and knots had to be next. Not that she wanted that to happen. It certainly wasn't on her to-do list but she figured it was only a matter of time.

Turning right to walk down yet another plain white corridor, Ace wondered how anyone could remember their way around this place. A moment later, the soldier stopped at a door, slid a card into some kind of electrical lock. A little light blinked green and the machine beeped before she and Kelly were forced to enter. It wasn't a cell though but some kind of interrogation room complete with a little desk, chairs, empty glasses and a jug of water. And who should be sitting there but 'Mr Policeman', AKA 'Domino'.

He blinked when he caught sight of Kelly. "I wasn't expecting two," he commented, attempting to hide his initial surprise.

"We're kind of a package deal at the moment." Ace raised her handcuffed wrist and forced Kelly's own hand to jerk up for him to see. She couldn't help but smile apologetically at Kelly who'd given her a look that said, 'Please stop doing that'.

"I'd like you to take a seat but..." He gestured helplessly at the single unoccupied chair, that Ace took one glance at before declaring ownership.

"Bags it!"

She hurriedly claimed it before Kelly had a chance to react, and the later's arm was yanked yet again. Hearing a loud 'Ahem' behind her, Ace looked back.

"I'm fine thanks," Kelly muttered as if to herself. "But I must insist you stop doing-" She unexpectedly tugged at the handcuff and Ace exclaimed aloud as she was jolted towards her and almost toppled to the floor. "That," finished Kelly.

Ace slowly shook her head and, with a bit more care, sat back down. After watching 'Mr Policeman' for a moment, her senses started buzzing in alarm.

There was something... different about him. He was too polite. Having just suffered the hospitality of a U.N.I.T officer this was unexpected. They were being treated like guests here when they were really prisoners. That wouldn't be standard protocol. Being nice and polite after chasing someone through the streets at night and shooting them with a stun gun was a little weird.

I have every reason to be wary, she reassured herself. It's not paranoia when the person who chased and shot you is only a meter or so away from you. That's called reason. Yes, I know my 'reason' doesn't always show up when it should but he's still armed. Don't like guns. Bad guys have guns. Good guys like me and Kit have Nitro.

A psychiatrist would have a field day determining the moral differences between the two tools of choice but such things were hardly important in Ace's lifestyle, particularly given her current circumstances. They might also be concerned over her rapid classification of people into one of three groups; good, bad and other. 'Other' people weren't good, weren't bad, usually had no idea what was going on, and typically were next to useless when things go crazy.

All that mattered to Ace was that he had a gun and that made him a bad guy.

Yet he didn't seem to be stupid like the other U.N.I.T grunts either because he regarded them both with a cautious eye, Kelly in particular, possibly due to his swollen nose and swelling black eye. Ace doubted he'd broken his nose on his own and something about the way Kelly's handcuffed hand had clenched made it seem like she was eager to have another shot and do a lot more damage.

"Nice nose," Ace praised Kelly for her handiwork.

Kelly smirked in the corner of her eye, confirming her suspicion. However instead of taking offence he just sat there calmly; definitely not a typical U.N.I.T response.

Another thing Ace caught wind of was the grudging respect he had for Kelly. Again that could be down to the injuries she'd inflicted on him, but pride was a more likely explanation. He was a grown adult man, a policeman or U.N.I.T officer, armed with a high powered stun gun and could run as fast as an athlete. She was seventeen, still in school despite being capable of appearing to be in her mid twenties, and she had dealt quite a lot of damage without any weapons besides her fists and feet.

Something about the way his eyes constantly watched her led Ace to believe there was more to it than that, almost as though a reputation was causing his caution. Neither of them had anything that would link them to their school (Kelly had been adamant about leaving anything of the sort behind in the garage), but maybe the man had linked two young trouble-makers to the infamous school automatically. No one else had made that connection, and it chilled her blood to think of the implications of that.

"You don't work for U.N.I.T," stated Kelly.

The man continued to give her the odd calculating look. "Don't I?"

"You're not one of them," she repeated.

"No," he admitted. "What told you that?"

Kelly, unwilling to part with the information, kept the details to herself. Ace seized the opportunity. "So what are you doing here?"

The question broke the eye contact between him and Kelly. Two eyes devoid of emotion bore down on her. "It was necessary to complete my mission."

This guy is a spy or something, wondered Ace. Nobody uses the word 'mission' anymore unless they mean it.

Kelly had come to the same conclusion. "And this mission is?"

His muscles seemed to tense up at her voice; a side effect of having his nose broken by her? No, more than that. His manner suggested he had been startled, spooked, as though struck by an electric current by her words.

As if processing the question, he relaxed slightly. "My instructions were to ensure you did not become involved."

"Involved in what exactly?"

Ace's stomach swirled nervously. Her uneasiness triplicated when the man refused to answer. Predicting a battle breaking out and knowing who she didn't want to be sided against, she turned her thoughts into words. "Shooting at someone tends to make them involved where I'm from."

"It was in self-defence."

Kelly cleared her throat and the man immediately turned to stare at her. "You did just shot her and tried to shoot us once before."

It seemed like Kelly's mere existence pushed the limits of his self control. If his frown was anything to go by, he saw her as an eight meter high solid steel obstacle preventing him from getting what he wanted and longed to break it down into coin sized pieces.

"You were not to be involved," he repeated with conviction.

"I am involved in everything and anything I choose."

Icicles formed in Ace's blood. This is what she feared would happen. She had tried and failed to keep the pair from sparing each other with words and aggressive body language. They'd worn against each other's nerves and both were on the verge of actual combat. As much as Ace knew this was a very bad thing, she couldn't help but think that if this guy didn't have a stun gun with him he wouldn't have stood a chance.

"The moment you started following her you involved me. Not only is your presence a threat to her but to everyone else that I protect. You put them at risk and I don't like that therefore I don't like you. If you harm a single one of them I will personally hunt you down."

Ace was very glad she had Kelly on her side. Very, very, very glad. She could very well see Kelly piloting a spaceship halfway across the galaxy in order to keep that promise. 'Look out Daleks', she thought of herself. 'Davros help you if you ever meet Kelly Jones.'

'Mr Policeman' regarded her for a moment. "Harming you was never my intention, Head Girl," he responded after a moment's silence. "Nor do I wish harm on any you represent."

Kelly blinked. Ace found her mouth gaping in shock and hurriedly shut it. For a moment, Ace thought she was hearing things until she glanced at Kelly who'd looked at her in turn. Neither spoke a word but they knew the other had heard the same. This man knew where they were from and he knew exactly who he was dealing with; the Head Girl of a school full of anarchists who had the power to unleash total chaos with a single word; and stared her in the eye without a trace of fear to be seen. Just who was he?

The abrupt change in atmosphere was ignored by the man.

"Your involvement ideally would have been avoided. However circumstances changed and no other options could be taken. My first option was to get a third party, U.N.I.T, to deal with the matter. Such plan has proved to be a failure for the organisation currently does not fulfil its intended purpose."

U.N.I.T's 'intended purpose' was to defend the planet from alien invasions. Ace knew that but couldn't figure out how 'Mr Policeman' knew. U.N.I.T was a top secret organisation. No one was supposed to know about it. Yet somehow he did, and that worried Ace. Come to think about it, Kelly knew something about U.N.I.T too. So much for top secret if practically everyone knew about it.

"I had to find another third party group with the ability to assist in the completion of my mission. There were none to be found. Who does one turn to when the people most suited to the task cannot be found or are incapable?"

He had a point. If there was a massive end of the world type situation or similar problem and U.N.I.T couldn't deal with it, who could? The answer came swiftly and effortlessly to Ace's mind. The Professor. He can stop anything. He can make anything work. But he's gone. There's just... me.

Suddenly it all clicked. U.N.I.T couldn't do it and the Professor wasn't around, so he had looked for the only person that could do anything about his problem.

"Then an answer came to my attention."

Ace did not like being stared at. It made her feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, and there were two giants with different lenses examining her now.

"Why her?" asked Kelly, emotions masked.

Because who else is there? thought Ace, but instead asked, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I represent the Shadow Proclamation, and have been sent here to investigate a breach in galactic law."

It didn't matter that she had never heard of this 'Shadow Proclamation'. Connections were made immediately in her mind and they explained a great deal.

Kelly, however, did not make such links. "Galactic law?"

Ace struggled momentarily to avoid meeting her eyes. It didn't last long especially when Kelly intensified the glare and she quickly surrendered her information. "He's an alien, Kit."

Kelly's reaction to having her whole world turned upside-down was extremely mild to say the least. Her eyebrows rose as she studied the man in a manner identical to the way she'd stared at Ace's face after revealing her real name. She glanced at Ace although not to make sure she wasn't joking but she had never looked so serious. Kelly looked back at the alien. There were no obvious signs of alien-ness to be found; no green skin, no tentacles, no antennas, no three eyes or any extra limbs. In fact nothing about his appearance suggested he was born on another planet, but Ace's conviction that had been present in her statement was so great that all doubt was erased from Kelly's mind.

"You look human."

"That was the reason I was the one selected for this mission," he replied.

Ace gaped. Kelly had gotten over it like that? Just like that? Either Kelly was really open minded or people in the twenty-first century had finally accepted that alien life existed.

"My mission," the alien explained, "is to locate an off-worlder wanted by galactic police with as little fuss as possible."

Kelly had a dozen questions poised on the tip of her tongue but Ace blurted one out faster. "How did you find me?"

"You are not the subject of this investigation."

The questions perched on Kelly's tongue doubled, but again she had no chance to ask them.

"I've been monitoring the area for the last few months for a criminal who has eluded capture for months. Their location was known but there were... complications."

Ace watched Kelly's eyes narrow. "What kind of 'complications'?"

The alien looked like she had just struck him in the face. "Sending in a capture squad on a level 5 planet is against galactic law. A H2O scoop would be costly and extremely conspicuous," he defended. "It was agreed that another solution had to be arranged. That is my role."

"What does that have to do with Ace?"

He removed an aged brown folder from a briefcase and placed it in front of them. Kelly, using her unhand-cuffed hand, flipped through a few pages then, seeming bored with its contents, let it close. How she could be bored with such an interesting object, Ace had no idea. She snatched it off the table and beamed at the sight of her name.

"I have a file!" The enormous red words 'Code 9' stamped on the front cover seemed to tarnish it though. "What's Code 9?"

"You," he replied simply.

"I have my own code?"

Kelly rolled her eyes to convey the message that Ace hardly needed any more self esteem and pride because she was so full of it already, then coughed softly to mask her amusement when the alien continued.

"Not you specifically. Others do fulfil the criteria to be called 'Code 9'."

Ace dropped the folder back onto the table with a sour look. "Go ask them to fix your alien problem then."

"Your assistance is a lot more convenient-"

"I'm glad I'm 'convenient' for your plans," mumbled Ace.

"-for this is the fugitive's location."

He pulled out a small device with a screen that flickered to reveal a 3D image of St Trinian's school and the surrounding area. Ace took one look at the image, forgot about her current dislike of the alien and started muttering rapidly under her breath.

"I knew it! I knew something was going on." A second later she noticed both Kelly and the alien were staring at her with odd looks.

"You knew about this?" inquired Kelly.

I knew there was a reason the Professor picked St Trinian's, and it wasn't because he wanted me to brush up on my Nitro making skills, Ace thought. Maybe he knew something was going to happen here and left me to investigate it, or maybe he really just picked at random and this is all just a coincidence. But I don't believe in coincidences, not anymore.

"No," Ace finally responded. "But I kept seeing things in the corner of my eye. Like someone was watching me. I thought it was the cameras or just me but..." she paused. "Last night in the forest, I saw two bright green eyes glowing at me, just for a second. When I went to look for it, it had vanished."

"Shape-shifter," the alien informed her. "It is capable of changing from one form to another with little effort or can hold a particular form for several days at a time."

"Great. An alien that can be anything or anyone."

The alien shook his head. "Almost anyone. A phone call was made to the police a few weeks ago, claiming to have seen a missing person on the grounds. Whoever did this is not the criminal. They have made a great effort to avoid detection by keeping a low profile."

"But there are still at least 50 people who they could be! How are we supposed to find it?"

Kelly's eyes widened at Ace's sudden change of tune. "You're going to help him? Why?"

Her conclusion was spookily accurate. Ace looked at her friend and lifted a finger on her left hand. "One; it's what I do, and don't ask me to explain that," she added seeing a question poised on Kelly's lips. "It's complicated."

Kelly made no attempt to conceal her disapproval. She did not like hearing those two words, particularly from Ace. She hated not knowing the answers. Still, she gestured for Ace to continue.

"Two;" Ace lifted another finger, "they've noticed me and have been watching me for a while, and I don't like it." The third finger joined the others. "Three; I don't think letting U.N.I.T search the grounds for this alien is a good idea."

She paused a moment to allow Kelly to consider what they might uncover in their search before listing the fourth reason.

"And four... Well I don't think I could stand around and not do anything about it. Maybe you could, Kit, but I sure can't."

Kelly bit her lip as she listened to the justifications and, as much as she wanted to, she couldn't find fault with any of the reasoning. She was reluctant to say as much, but knew it was as much her responsibility as the alien's to find the shape-shifter. At times like this being Head Girl was a pain. It meant there was no possibility of doing nothing. She was duty bound. It was her responsibility to deal with the problems that occurred, and that included having an alien in human form posing as one of the girls, as unlikely and unbelievable as it sounded.

J. J French had hardly mentioned this in the Head Girl advisory letter. It hadn't listed 'Investigating alien impersonators' and 'Dealing with time travellers with a tendency to find trouble' on the list of general tasks to achieve. No, that had been 'Keep plugged-in hair straighteners away from the Posh Totty wardrobe' and 'Minimize unwanted attention drawn to the school'. As Kelly had quickly noticed very few things of importance had been mentioned at all but she was pretty certain having a squad of U.N.I.T soldiers roaming the grounds was the last thing she wanted.

Ace's list had highlighted that there were problems that needed dealing with even if they were slightly beyond this planet's atmosphere. 'But,' Kelly wondered, 'is it even feasible to think I can do anything about them?' All this talk about aliens and shape-shifting and galactic law had made her acutely aware that she was very much out of her league. On the few occasions she had previously experienced this unpleasant sensation she compared her understanding to others around her to reassure herself that she wasn't the only one who didn't understand, but that didn't happen this time. Ace had taken to the challenging topics and concepts like a duck to water and Kelly honestly couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or a very bad one.

Good, she supposed, because at least someone knows what's going on. Bad because I don't have a clue. Good because she should be able to explain it to me so I do understand. Bad because she typically isn't very good at explaining things.

How Ace managed to achieve this incredible feat was unknown and it did not make sense. She had taken the whole thing in her stride and was currently talking animatedly with the alien across from them. Her vocabulary had altered to include phrases that you might expect to hear from a physics university student and Kelly couldn't help but stare uncomprehendingly at the words that emerged from her mouth. The alien was worse, using even bigger and more complicated sounding terminology and jargon. Trying to follow the conversation between them was like reading something written in hieroglyphs. If you didn't have a key or a glossary, it was impossible to interpret the message.

Kelly had no such glossary and felt very isolated and alone, despite still being handcuffed to someone she thought she knew.

* * *

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," was the first thing said after the pair had been escorted back to their cell.

"What? That I'd seen an alien in the middle of the night and thought it was watching me?" asked Ace, acutely aware of how unbelievable the statement would have sounded several hours ago. Amazing how a few hours could change a person's perceptions on the Universe forever.

The reply was short. "Yes."

It also sounded unnecessarily harsh to Ace's ears. Is she offended that I never told her? Ace thought to herself. But it's hardly my fault. There's no way she would have believed me. Had I been her and someone starting talking about aliens hiding in trees and that, I'd think they were mad or had too much to drink. Yes, I did tell her about me travelling through time, but that was different.

She didn't admit that at the time she had felt that she needed to tell someone, anyone, otherwise she'd start going insane from the sheer normal-ness of her surroundings. But she did acknowledge that it was not a good thing to have a falling out with the only other person in the room that you're stuck in for an unspecified length of time.

"I meant to but I couldn't," Ace went on to reply and her heart sank when Kelly's back was turned on her. "I didn't think you'd believe me," she admitted. "Time travel's one thing, creepy alien eyes in the middle of the night is another. Besides there was no way I could prove it. Every time I went looking for it, it disappeared into thin air."

Ace saw Kelly's shoulders rise and fall as she sighed. "You still could have tried."

She nodded in agreement, although she knew had she done it over again she still wouldn't have.

Kelly turned back to glance at her. "But that doesn't explain how you know so much about all this, aliens and all that. You weren't around when that spaceship crashed into Big Ben. Since you come from the 20th Century, I wouldn't have thought-"

"Aliens have been around for a while," Ace informed her. "The evidence is all around you. This place was built by U.N.I.T years ago. They didn't just form a top secret organisation overnight. They've had their fair share of alien encounters. U.N.I.T and I have met before but not this lot. About fifteen years ago maybe, and that other time in the 1960's. They're still very trigger-happy and prone to ignoring the important stuff." Seeing an opportunity, Ace continued, "How about you?"

Kelly frowned at her but fortunately it wasn't a death glare. Her mood had to be improving.

"I mean, you've clearly heard of them before," Ace prompted, "but U.N.I.T's supposed to be top secret, so how come you know about it?"

"Most of your records were obtained off U.N.I.T's database, like all those files you saw," Kelly explained briefly. "But how do you know so much, because you seemed... different when you were talking to that man."

"What do you mean?"

"At first, you were as clueless as I was about why he'd been after us. Then when he mentioned galactic law you seemed to know everything even when he hadn't explained anything. You also identified him as an alien, despite looking as human as you and I. How did you know?"

Well, thought Ace, when you've met as many aliens as I have, you tend to pick up on a few things. When I tried to outrun him, he was super fast and didn't tire and that's not normal, even for an athlete. Connect a few more dots like that and it's not that hard to pick one out. But she couldn't say that. Kelly would only have more questions and in order to answer them she'd have to tell her everything, and that would be far more complicated than the crash course Kelly had received back in the hotel. Explaining space travel was something Ace really didn't want to do right now.

So she resorted to her simpler, now semi-regular explanation; "It's complicated."

She blinked when Kelly rolled her eyes. "You always say that! How can it be any more complicated than the mess we're currently in?"

"It's a different kind of complicated," Ace justified, and it was. Kelly didn't see it that way though.

"There are different kinds of complicated?" exclaimed Kelly. Frustration coated her features (So much for improving mood, thought Ace) and a dark look grew out of her piercing pupils. "You know what's complicated?" she asked rhetorically before jabbing a finger at Ace. "You. The moment I start to understand you, something crazy jumps out of nowhere and changes everything."

Ace detected the return of the aggressive, dangerous scary Kelly and immediately backed off. Annoy the kitty too much and she turns into a lioness so you better know when to stop. Being trapped in a room with a kitty was fine. Being trapped in a room with a lioness was bad, very very bad, and things could get messy very very quickly.

The silence did little to ease the tension in the room. In fact, it seemed to cause Kelly's mood to slowly boil. "I thought I understood you," she said, forcing Ace to meet her eyes. "You told me you are a time traveller and, as ridiculous and impossible as it sounded, I accepted it." Her eyes narrowed. "Then you tell me that that man back there is alien after an alien who's been hiding at the school, and you knew about it and never said a word."

Her fingers twitched irregularly as she battled to control whatever force had taken hold of her.

"How wrong I was to think that you'd explain any of this even when you're the reason I'm in this mess. And," she met Ace's eyes with a deadly glare, "then you tell me it's complicated."

"I... I'm sorry, Kelly," Ace managed struggling to speak after such a direct accusation. Worse, it was clear Kelly meant every word for at some point during her speech she had lost control over the words that fell from her lips.

"I don't know what to think anymore. So many secrets, it's like peeling an onion layer by layer. You never seem to be getting anywhere."

"I don't know what to say or how to explain it now."

"Try," she implored. "For once, at least try."

Ace took a few deep breaths; it was time to take a plunge into the deep, dark, unfamiliar territory of explanation that she usually left to the Professor. She tried to remember how he described the situations they'd experienced to other people (And made a mental note to not replicate several of his mistakes, such as complicated science-y stuff) as she attempted to replicate his condensed version of events.

"Sometime a few months ago, an alien shape-shifter fled the space police and landed on Earth. They are now at the school. I sensed them watching me and knew that something was wrong, but couldn't find it."

She paused to consider what to say next, and Kelly waited patiently for her to continue.

"You see, I'm not just a time traveller. I travel the Universe. I stop the bad guys. I save the world. I right wrongs and fight against the crime that is cold tea."

For half a second Kelly had that violent gleam in her eyes. Then the eyes closed and she seemed to sigh as she regained her composure.

"Cold tea?" she repeated. "You fight to prevent cold tea?"

"Terrible, terrible thing, cold tea," Ace told her allowing humour to slip into her words in order for Kelly to notice she didn't mean everything she was saying. "Almost as terrible as creepy old houses."

"So you're not an alien?"

Ace stepped back startled. "What? You really think...?" She then caught glimpse of Kelly's smile. "Oh, ha ha, Very funny. For a second I thought you were being serious."

"The feeling's mutual."

"But I was being serious," Ace answered back, serious.

"Cold tea? You're an alien finder and save the world? If you're through with your joke, can you just tell me?"

"I just did!"

Kelly shook her head. "Ace, I might believe you are a time traveller but really... "

Ace's mouth opened and closed without a complete sentence leaving it. "You... I... But... Gah!" she cried in frustration. "Now I know why I never tried telling you earlier." She sighed and muttered to herself "I tell her the truth, and you know what? She doesn't believe me."

"What was that?"

"I said, 'Shouldn't we be trying to get out of here before someone comes to get us?'"

Kelly glanced at her before accepting the change of topic. "Any plan in mind?" she asked as though to help pass the time. "We are somewhere underground who knows where."

"I bet I could blow this door open with some Nitro." Ace reached into a pocket to do just that and raised it triumphantly, only to have it snatched out of her hands.

"How and where did you hide this? They searched your pockets."

"Not all of them," Ace replied, attempting to take back the explosive. When Kelly raised it high above her head to keep it out of reach, Ace scowled. "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

"Yes, but this would set off all the alarms with the shockwave. Or make the roof cave in, and then we'd be even more stuck."

The can was returned to its owner's pocket. "Well... I wish I had my chemistry set with me. It had some nice acidic compounds that'd eat the whole door away."

"That sounds like a better idea."

"Yeah. Pity I don't have it."

"Nitric Acid would probably get through the door, if it's steel."

Ace's eyes shot up to stare. "You... You know about chemistry?"

"You are surprised that after what I've seen twelve year olds do with unrestricted access to chemistry supplies that I don't know a little about acids?" She walked over to the door and studied it for a moment. "It's not just steel," she informed Ace. "Most likely an alloy." She sighed. "Guess we are stuck, aren't we?"

Ace would have believed she meant that statement had she not caught her knowing wink.


	31. Escape Via Public Transport

**Author's Note:** This chapter contains Google-translated English to Arabic. Most of the text has been checked in another English to Arabic translator but, as I do not speak it, may be incorrect. I appologise in advance and if you notice a mistake, please notify me and I will correct it.

* * *

**Escape Via Public Transport**

'_Damn, she thought. I'm going to need more coffee.'_

"I'm not complaining or anything," Ace commented after they left their cell, "but what was that can of liquid nitrogen doing in my pocket?"

"Just chilling with your Nitro, Ace.

Judging by the expression on Ace's face she could hear that something about that sentence was supposed to be funny but was unable to pick out exactly what it was. "But I didn't put it there, so who did?"

"Someone who thought we might need it," Kelly replied before tilting her head around the corner to check it was all clear.

The liquid nitrogen had made the door lock brittle enough to break and, after a bit of Kelly's picking with a safety pin off Ace's jacket, the door had opened and they were out. So far they'd encountered no soldiers or cameras, and it was beginning to bother her. This was a secret base and ought to have high security. She remembered the man in the office describing the security of another base they had supposedly broken into. That's what she had expected to see here. But she couldn't see any alarm systems or clearance doors that required I.D to pass or armed patrols. Why, if their cell hadn't been locked, you wouldn't have thought they were prisoners at all. Now if they had seen a single guard she would have felt a bit better. But there was nothing, just empty white corridors devoid of guards and cameras.

This felt wrong and very trap like.

Kelly didn't like it one bit.

Ace on the other hand was not as nerved by this. Either she was so used to this kind of thing that she was able to keep calm, or (The more likely option in Kelly's opinion) she was completely oblivious to how things were far easier than they should have been. It was possible that she was just hiding her uneasiness, but Ace was terrible at concealing things. Say a few words and you can figure out how much she knows by how wide or narrow her eyes become.

At present she was still a bit baffled by the liquid nitrogen. "You brought it?" she asked. "Why?"

"Same reason you bring your Nitro; in case we need it." Unlike you though, Kelly continued to herself, I don't go carrying delicate chemicals in improvised containers and risk my life every time they jolt around. It's almost a miracle they haven't ever gone off in your pockets.

Ace's pockets...Yes, she had temporarily forgotten about them, twice.

She looked back at Ace. "Speaking of your Nitro, how on earth do they fit in your pockets?"

Ace chuckled softly but said nothing.

"They are about this big," Kelly continued as she gestured the approximate size with her hands, "and your pockets are this big." She narrowed the distance between her palms to the size of a hole punch. "And somehow you manage to fit three of them in one of them!" She alternated between the distances several times to demonstrate the clear size difference.

"Noticed that did you?"

"Noticed?" Kelly scoffed. "You could say that since I could put my whole arm in there."

She swallowed. "They're bigger on the inside."

Kelly made a big show of rolling her eyes but was secretly relieved that it wasn't just her imagination making the pockets so big. "Obviously but how?"

Ace briefly pondered her reply. "If I said it had to do with the inside and outside of the pocket existing in different dimensions and by reaching inside you could cross from one to the other, you would say...?"

"In English, Ace."

"Then I'd have to say 'If it's not broken, don't fix it'."

Kelly found herself accepting that with a nod. Fair enough. Now was not the time to argue with physics.

After a quick sweeping glance for soldiers she gestured for Ace to follow her as she sneaked around the corner, clinging to the walls. The path split in two further up at a 'T' intersection. Left or right? Kelly's internal compass began spinning as she mentally retraced their steps back from the office where she'd last located east; where the sunrise had been. Left led north, right south. Right also led back to the office, left into the unknown. Right, she decided.

But Ace had made her own decision, impulsively choosing left. "This way," she whispered.

"No, this way. It leads back to the office. There will be a way out nearby."

"Out?" asked Ace, looking bewildered. "No, we can't go. They've taken my Nitro. Down to the labs they said. I have to get it back."

For the seemingly hundredth time Kelly seriously wondered if Ace was sane. Time after time she had suggested taking the least logical, more dangerous option as thought there was nothing wrong with it. She had no sense of their priorities at all! Explosives are expendable, opportunities to escape are not. Kelly attempted to reason with her. "You can make more. This is our only chance to get out!"

But the stubborn girl crossed her arms and declared with a fiery shine to her eyes, "No. I'm not leaving it."

She was prepared risk everything to recover a stolen can? Like it was an actual person she cared about? Good God now's not the time to think irrationally and act impulsively! The fact that we're even discussing the idea is ludicrous, thought Kelly angrily. Every second spent arguing here is a second wasted and it is only be a matter of time before someone came looking for us.

"I'm sure it will forgive you." With that, Kelly grabbed her arm and started pulling forcefully.

Ace's body went limp for a moment before she tensed up again, breaking free of Kelly's compromised grip. "Go whatever way you want," she told Kelly as she created distance between them. "I'm staying until I find it."

All chance of convincing her to discard this idea had evaporated. When that gleam appears in her eyes nothing and no one could change her mind. Easily, that is. With a bit of time, constant pestering and a bit of bullying it was possible to reach a compromise but time was limited because Ace didn't look like she was willing to listen for much longer.

"You don't even know where the labs are!" Kelly exclaimed as she hurriedly considered her options.

Option 1. Knock her out. Pros: no more arguing, no splitting up, no suicide mission for a metal can. Cons: I'll have to carry her out of here, 10-15% chance of escape, she will hate me for it and probably resent me for a long time (unfortunate but not the most important factor to consider), I will be defenceless if soldiers appear and we'll both be caught and back where we started, and if we do escape I'll somehow have to keep her on the bike without falling off presuming I can find it or be forced to carry her until she wakes up.

Option 2. Go with her. Pros: no splitting up. Cons: both on suicide mission, no idea where we're going, likelihood of escape decreases to 25-30% at best, both caught, both trapped and back where we started.

Option 3. Go without her. Pros: likelihood of escape increases to 80%, no more talking or whining, silence, no suicide mission. Cons: only ensures my escape, forced to wait for her if she does make it out and if she doesn't, I'll have to find her and get her out.

As annoying as Ace was at times, option 1 was a no go. 2 or 3, right or left, right and wrong, with or without? But Ace had taken her lack of response as an answer and started walking. She disappeared around the next corner.

Kelly stared silently after her. She longed to catch her and drag her back by the ear but restrained her inner frustration. You can't make her do what you want, she reminded herself. She'll just rebel. She's uncontrollable, determined and not afraid to do anything dangerous if she can get what she wants. Those qualities could be found in any St Trinian girl so Kelly should have felt confident that Ace could take care of herself. She might be crazy but she wasn't stupid. If she wanted her can back this badly then nothing could stop her.

Kelly turned right. Each step echoed in the silence as they had for the last ten minutes only now there were no other footsteps following close behind. She'll be fine. She's Ace. She's perfectly capable of getting out of here by herself. I don't need to be there to hold her hand the whole time. She's tough. She's fast.

It's not like she'll get lost...

Or end up searching the whole building for her stupid explosive...

Or get caught...

Or do something stupid...

Kelly hesitated.

Oh who am I kidding?

Kelly reached the 'T' intersection in a heartbeat. I shouldn't be doing this. If Ace is mad enough to think her Nitro is more important than escaping then I'm even madder than she is because, despite knowing better, I still go after her! I know we should be going the other way and I know explosives are expendable and this idea is suicide, but I also know Ace and knowing her, I'll turn this corner and find her up to her neck in trouble before she can say-

"Oops."

And this is why I can't let her go off by herself, thought Kelly as she swiftly slid around the corner and grabbed a soldier's shoulder, pressing down hard. He didn't even have a chance to mutter a single syllable before collapsing. She didn't look at the stunned Ace when she kneeled to search the man's pockets. He was sure to be unconscious for at least an hour. With the tiniest smirk of satisfaction, she located something that would surely make this mission a little more feasible and tossed the plastic security pass at Ace who almost dropped it.

"Kit," she began, and Kelly found herself sighing inside as she turned he head to peer at her. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Ten seconds without me and this happens." She gestured at the soldier's unmoving body. "So if we're going after that can of yours, we better find it quick."

* * *

Roughly eighteen minutes, four security doors, two unconscious U.N.I.T personnel and a recovered can of Nitro later, Ace and Kelly had left the building. Naturally they had been noticed and several squads of armed guards had come running after them. Much to the girls' dismay, they were quite a distance away from the pub they'd encountered 'Mr Alien' where their mode of transport had been hidden. Neither found the concept of walking all the way back to the pub appealing and they were considering how they'd steal a vehicle and lose their followers when the 6:48am bus turned the corner to stop on the other side of the road. The millisecond glance the pair exchanged confirmed their shared thought.

When life gives you lemons... use the quick getaway.

"Saved by public transport," Ace muttered. "Never thought I'd say that."

There were about nine other occupants on the bus all heading off to work presumably. None noticed the strange attire of the latest travellers, although a man in his mid-twenties did stare quite openly when Kelly gracefully collapsed onto the aisle seat (How she could do that, Ace wondered after she'd practically fallen into her own seat) and leant her head back against the headrest with an audible sigh of relief.

For reasons unknown, the U.N.I.T patrol didn't think to check the bus for them. Either they didn't even notice it was there, or simply couldn't be bothered after their long shift of standing around and looking impressive. Most likely the later. It was almost 7 in the morning after all and they were eager to head off home. Life as a U.N.I.T grunt was hard work.

Being an escaped prisoner was pretty damn tiring too, and Kelly had a sinking feeling she knew what Ace would say when she next opened her mouth. She didn't just predict correctly, she even managed to time it exactly.

"I'm hungry."

Running for your life twice in one night had apparently worked up an appetite. Kelly, eyes shut, reached into Ace's pocket, pulled out the packet of mints and dropped them into Ace's lap. "Wake me when we get there, if I do fall asleep," she mumbled as she made herself more comfortable in her chair.

* * *

The bus dropped them off about a block away from the pub and it took them a while to find the concealed motorbike.

"I'll drive," offered Ace donning her helmet.

"Oh no you don't." Kelly's energy might be almost completely depleted but she managed the stern tone just fine. "We've beaten the odds getting this far."

"Kit, it will be fine. Trust me."

Kelly was certain she'd regret it later when she reluctantly handed over the keys and mounted the bike behind Ace. However after a terrifying start and several sharp corners, she found it wasn't only Ace who was enjoying the ride and relaxed a little bit. She wouldn't remember much of the journey though for, although it was hardly a smooth, uneventful trip, she was exhausted and eventually was unable to see disaster around every corner. How she'd managed to fall asleep on the back of a fast moving motorbike that had zigzagged down the street just so Ace could show she could and not in a nice safely enclosed bus that followed the road rules defied reason, but it somehow happened because the next thing she recalled was staring up at a thick beam that ran to the middle of a familiar wooden ceiling and reading a post it note positioned directly about her head.

'_Told you I could drive.'_

She blinked twice and smiled slightly at it. There were other words and messages written on the roof too but they did not match the post-it note's messy handwriting. Their age also varied and some had been carved into the wood, others painted. Most were names, some she recognised, but most were unknown to her. There were countless places around the school like this; names etched into desks, scrawled over textbooks; and everyone left their own mark here or there.

She closed her eyes, her senses overwhelmed by the need to fulfil her coffee craving, but she really didn't want to get up yet. Her daily ordeal of deciding what kind would best suit this need was also present. Not decaf today, she decided. I need a burst of energy. I really don't feel myself this morning. Can't even think clearly. Not a good sign.

She opened her eyes again. Where's the cork board on the ceiling? This isn't my room, she thought to herself, turning her head to the right. This is the dorm. I haven't slept here for weeks now. She glanced around her. Yes, it was the dorm all right, but there was something wrong about her perspective. The Emos are supposed to be over there, not there. And the Geeks should be to the right, not left and across the room. I shouldn't be able to read Polly's digital clock and know that it's 3:37... Three in the afternoon! Oh, God!

She launched herself off the bed and set off at a hurried jog before speeding up to a run, her bare feet slapping noisily on the floorboards. She came to an abrupt halt at the door when her brain had finally caught up with her and gave herself a rapid once-over look. To her dismay she saw black; black jacket, black pants, black shirt. I can't wear this out there! They'd know something was up immediately, particularly since I'm dressed like a cat burglar!

A rebel thought wandered into her head. Cat. Ace would find that amusing.

She shook her head as if to expel such useless internal dialogue. Focus! Think priorities. Get new clothes, find shoes, shower, clean up, hide everything, head downstairs, grab some coffee and find out what is going on which is certainly going to be huge and dangerous because I haven't been around to stop it. No, backtrack. Clothes, skip shower, clean up, dump gear, grab coffee and find Ace. Much better plan for the later was hitting two birds with one stone; find Ace, find trouble.

"She's in the storeroom."

Kelly spun on her heel to find Alex seated in the Geeks area, head down and typing away frantically at a laptop. Good grief! How long had she been there?

"What?"

The Geek didn't look up. "You're wondering where Ace is. She's is the storeroom."

A cold shiver ran down the Head Girl's spine, either the result of being spooked (And Kelly strongly detested being spooked) or the thought that Ace was in the storeroom again. The twins had taken to watching her from afar whenever she visited that room and took some supplies. The twins, who never did any work willingly, were taking notes. The implications were terrifying.

"How'd you know I wanted to find her?"

Fingers flew across the keys and the tap-taping sound accompanied the reply. "Educated guess. A few weeks ago you both hated each other, now you're rarely ever apart."

Kelly said nothing. She had never hated Ace although that's what they'd made it seem after making their original deal. To be completely honest she had been fascinated with her character since she'd first seen her mud-covered face and black eye. Ace was just so… unique. Admittedly, she could also be incredibly annoying. She was frustrating and stubborn, and never did what you thought she would. If you wanted her to stay away, expect to find her there. She was an unpredictable factor. Add her to the mix and who knew what hell might break loose. Her infectious aura drew trouble towards her.

"Trouble and Ace go hand in hand as I'm sure you've noticed."

The Geek shook her head, "Not really. She just confuses me."

If you're confused by Ace, then I wonder how you'd cope if you knew just how complicated and confusing she really is, Kelly thought as she left the room. Sometimes even I don't know how I cope.

* * *

After changing into some more suitable (and less conspicuous) clothes and fixing herself some coffee, Kelly quickly made her way down to the storeroom. Oddly she'd encountered no one since entering the kitchen but, having enough already on her mind, she finished her second cup and paid the matter very little attention. Once she had found Ace, caught up with things, then she would start to be concerned about where everybody had gone.

She placed her empty cup on one of the benches in the science block, and shook her head. The storeroom door was half open. Ace was growing careless. She had been so careful not to let the twins see which ingredients she used for her Nitro, but now seemed to be getting a bit sloppy.

Ready to say so, Kelly pushed the door open further but stopped abruptly. There was no sudden cry of alarm as there had been last time Ace had found herself snuck up on whilst making her Nitro, because she was not there. Clearly she had been there though, for a can without its screw-on top was sitting on a bench. Various apparatus was scattered on the bench as well as on the selves that lined the room. The smell of a chemical burning caused Kelly's nose to twitch and she took a step back from the blackened substance over the Bunsen Burner. She then spotted Ace's jacket that lay crumpled in a pile under a chair that looked suspiciously like it had been knocked over.

The sound of footsteps running towards her only intensified Kelly's racing heart. Turning to see the twins looking more serious than they had ever been in their lives, she sighed.

Damn, she thought. I'm going to need more coffee.

* * *

A fist made contact with Ace's gut and she struggled to keep both her breakfast and a number of unpleasant words that seemed to describe her assailant quite adequately from leaving her throat. Instead she spluttered and coughed.

"What's the matter?" sneered Josey. "No army of First Years to save you? No Head Girl to save you?"

"I'm not the one that's gonna need saving!" Ace managed to shout back after catching her breath.

Another combination of blows made contact with her arms as they protected her head and chest. Her lack of retaliation aggravated her opponent, who clearly didn't understand the sort of day Ace had been having. Sure, running in into aliens and escaping top secret military bases wasn't that unusual, but running into this much trouble in 24 hours was starting showing its toll.

Keeping everyone away from the dorm and letting Kelly sleep hadn't been too tricky as no one wanted to be anywhere near there. After Ace mentioned it to Taylor, she heard the Chav mutter something about what had happened last time someone had woken a tired Kelly up a few years ago. The girl ended up with a black eye and Kelly just rolled over and gone straight back to sleep. No one had ever tried it again (And Ace was suddenly aware of how lucky she was to have escaped injury when she'd woken Kelly back at the U.N.I.T base).

Having sorted that, Ace started making more Nitro. She had just finished one batch when one heck of an explosion rang out. When her ears stopped ringing and Ace saw she was unhurt, she'd rushed outside. The twins' attempt at replicating Nitro 9 had failed miserably, and they looked somewhat sheepish until she reminded them Kelly was asleep and informed them, "If Kelly heard that, you're dead!"

Not long after that, who should Ace bump into but her nemesis. The exchange might not have involved more than a few words but the Chav must have sensed Ace's fatigue and immediately took advantage of it.

Which is why the mob of girls that surrounded the duelling pair were shouting, "Fight! Fight!"

Only cowards fight opponents when they're down, thought Ace and, briefly energised by anger, she launched into attack mode. One strike landed, but the others were easily avoided. For someone who'd just taken a hit to the jaw Josey looked awfully pleased about something.

The ignited spark of anger wavered. Ace didn't like that evil grin on her face. Reminded her of a few power-crazed nutters she'd stopped from taking over the Universe. She had previously had the misfortune of annoying said power-crazy nutters and knew that gleam in the corner of her nemesis' eyes was the equivalent of a creepy villainous laugh before revealing something terribly evil. They thought they had the unbeatable secret weapon or had a nasty trap ready to spring.

And spring it did, for suddenly Josey had swept Ace's feet from under her and kept her pinned to the ground with a knee on her back. Ace's attempts to free herself were ineffective.

Josey leaned in close to gloat. "Did you really think I'd forgotten about you, and what you've done? About you sticking your nose into everything and meddling with my plans? No. I waited for my chance to get you back, and now it's here. But it is better than I've ever dreamed. Because..." she whispered and Ace felt her breath on her ear, "I know how much you hate the name Dorothy."

Time froze. Had Ace been able to see the sky it would have abruptly changed from bright, sunny and cloudless to stormy. For a few seconds, she was calm, eerily so, and Ace's eyes closed slowly as if to shut out the world. She wanted nothing more than to flee, but she was trapped. Every possibly inch of herself lowered itself to the ground.

Josey, thinking all the fight have left Ace, pressed down harder and laughed.

Ace's eyes snapped open. Something violently explosive erupted within her mind. Having control over her body became impossible. Her veins boiled with hatred and it energised every cell from her fingertips to her toes.

With incredible force, she pushed off the ground with a roar. Josey was forced into the air as if bucked off a horse and landed awkwardly on her knees a few meters away. The shocked girl just gaped. She was unable to move as her opponent slowly rose, first onto her hands and knees, then onto her haunches, then onto her feet. Not until she had reached her full height did her meet her target's eyes.

Ace's eyes narrowed. Their gaze slammed into Josey with such intensity that the girl backed up even further as if seeing a lion or a bull charging towards her.

The Chav gulped and was really beginning to regret her words for, although Ace hadn't said a thing or attacked her, before her stood a demon. Not a monster, because those eyes were too intelligent, too aware and too focused. A monster was terrifying because they were hideous. Their bodies were deformed, their fingernails converted into claws, teeth into fangs. The figure before her looked human on the outside but to have that strength, that amount of power... That could only belong to something that was more than human.

And those eyes... Those horrible eyes that glowed bright yellow...

A fist struck her face, slamming her to the ground. Another blow stuck her chest followed by another, and another. A kick in the belly, another strike split her lip. Blood dripped from a broken nose then Ace, eyes blurred by the flames of her hatred, saw her nemesis fall backwards and hit the ground with an audible thud.

Yes, thought Ace, good. This is good. No one can call me by THAT name.

Her thoughts were interrupted when hands seized her arms from behind and pulled her away. She fought them, trying to release herself to wreck more pain and suffering on the stinking filthy scumbag at her feet.

"Let me go!" she bellowed. "Let. Me. GO!"

She tried to pull away, the now unconscious Josey in her sights, but was forced back like a dog on a leash when a yank on her ponytail forced her to stare up at the upside-down face of Kelly.

"Ace!" A moment of hesitation clouded the Head Girl's eyes allowing a word to escape her lips, "_Mada_?" She caught herself though and regained control. "Look at me," she commanded.

Ace continued to struggle. She would not look into those hypnotic eyes. She would not. Her power would vanish if she did and she could not allow her rage to be bridled when revenge was the only answer.

"Look at me."

As if reading her mind, Kelly pulled again until Ace was forced to step away from Josey to stop the nagging pain of hair being pulled out.

Having become the sole focus of Ace's sight, the instruction was given again, this time in Arabic much to the other onlookers' surprise. "_Tnzr fy wjhy._"

None of the bystanders understood the foreign dialect and several blinked, having never heard their Head Girl speak another language. Despite her words remaining the same, her tone had dropped in severity for a far gentler approach to deal with the enraged Ace. Aggression was not the way to deal someone who was as furious as this.

If Kelly's ability to speak Arabic had surprised the other girls then having Ace respond similarly was a shock, although it was not voluntary on Ace's part.

"_Wasmhwa ly an adhb, Hryrh!" _she repeated, struggling to free herself.

"_Hryrh?"_ Kelly asked then smiled briefly as she recognised her nickname. She did not loosen her grip as she continued, _"Ma hw alkhta? Ql ly."_ (What's wrong? Tell me.)

She tried to make their eyes meet but Ace's gaze wandered continuously to avoid it. It was incredibly hard when the Head Girl's face was all she could see. Those eyes had never looked so concerned. Too late Ace realised her strength was being leeched away by their stare.

"_Wqalt enha swf yndm 'ela ma qalt!" _Ace spat trying to maintain her rage as she tilted her head sideways to glare at Josey who had only recovered from the assault enough to sit up.

The other girls, despite not comprehending the rapid discussion, could hear the threat in her words. Judging from body language and actions alone, it was clear that Kelly was the only thing holding Ace back from having another go at Josey. Josey, sensing the waves of hate rippling towards her, winced. She didn't need a translator. She knew if Kelly decided to let Ace loose the maniac would mercilessly wipe the floor with her. Again.

"_Mada tqwl?"_ (What did she say?)

Ace shook her head, saying only, _"La ahd yd'ew mny dlk, mn ay wqt mda!" _(No one calls me that, ever!)

"_Altnabz balalqab?"_ (Name calling?) Kelly was about to comment on the triviality of such a fight and how it hardly justified her actions when she was silenced Ace's eyes which sparked again. Kelly had to swallow a gasp as they flickered from brown to gold and back. They had done so a few moments ago but she had dismissed it as a trick of the light, a reflection of some kind, glare from the sun. Ace's eyes were lit from within and cycled between the colours as an apocalyptic rage churned away inside.

"_Anha t'erf mn ana. Wqalt enha tstkhdm asmy, asmy alhqyqy." _(She knows who I am. She used my name, my real name.)

Ace knew the moment Kelly understood for her face lost its gentleness. The calm milky brown crystals of her eyes fractured and darkness spilled from the cracks like blood from a wound. That name, the name Ace had rebelled against since she was nine, was not her, and using it had been a grave mistake on Josey's behalf.

Ace longed to be wrong, wished she had misunderstood something, but she hadn't. A liar, a sneak and a scumbag Josey might be, but alien she was not. She was only human. Not a nice one, not a friendly one, and certainly not one you wanted to meet in a dark alley, but she was definitely, 100% human.

"_Anha alkha'en_," she informed Kelly. (She's the traitor.)

Ace was disappointed by the discovery. Kelly was not. She had an answer. Kelly liked answers. They made sense of actions and explained motives. After being deprived of them for a while now, it felt good to return to what she was used to; dealing with problems with answer. She liked results too, almost as much as she liked answers. Answers needed finding, results just occurred.

This answer was not a positive one. It made her blood boil to think that one of her girls (regardless of what they might think of being called 'hers') had betrayed one of their own made her fists clench tight of their own accord.

"_Kha'en,"_ Kelly breathed before switching effortlessly to English. "How could you?"

Josey blinked. Having been effectively excluded from the conversation, she was completely caught off guard by Kelly's verbal assault. She had no idea what she was being accused or blamed for. "What?"

Kelly's steel eyes and voice cut through the air like a hot knife through butter but with a lot more menace than a knife handle-deep in butter could manage. "Betraying a St Trinian is unforgivable."

The small gathering around the scene, having grown larger since Kelly's arrival, glared at Josey with accusing eyes. A few First Years actually growled to express their disapproval while many of Josey's friends stepped away from their leader, either knowing where things were heading or legitimately disgusted with her. Andrea now held a sharp wooden stake and other Emos were reaching for their weapons.

Aware of the rising resentment and hostility around her, Josey tried to justify her actions, only incriminating herself even more. "She wasn't a St Trinian then! Just some freak."

Many members of the crowd booed loudly at this and the number and volume of the voices increased with her protests. Ace, still trapped by Kelly's tight grip, peered around and realised the girls had taken sides. Incredibly they were all with her. Ace felt her anger slowly drain away. She must have relaxed for Kelly's grip loosened gradually and she was released. Yet she had no desire to launch back into the fray. Her battle was over. As much as Josey scorned and belittled the power of the other girls, she could hardly deny their power now.

"You wouldn't believe what I found out-" Josey shouted, struggling to be heard.

Kelly had no such need because the mob died down to hear her words. "Nobody cares, Josey. No one believes a traitor."

"So what are you going to do? Kick me out?"

Many started nodding at the idea. Chasing this girl across the grounds to the very edge of their territory seemed appealing to most, although a few disagreed. It would hardly satisfy their need for revenge, even if it wasn't them who had been crossed.

Kelly's eyes judged their thoughts before coming to a decision. "No." She met the girl's eyes and then stated in a manner that permitted no compromises, "You will stay."

Being told that you weren't allowed to leave somehow sounded worse than actually being kicked out. To be surrounded by those who despised you this much... For the first time, Ace felt the tiniest wave of sympathy for the girl. She had not forgotten all their encounters or every punch, every kick, every foul word and every taunt that had accompanied each exchange. Despite all that, she did feel a bit sorry for the girl. But then her heart turned cold as she recalled that she had not been the only target of Josey's, and any trace of sympathy was erased from existence.

Ace could take people disliking her. She just ignored them. But when someone bullied and pressured the people around her, people she considered friends or at least peers, that's what Ace couldn't stand. That she would not allow to go without punishment. She could forget what she'd suffered, but refused to forgive what had been done to others.

One person in particular had endured more than anyone else, but she wouldn't say a word. Were it anyone else, she'd had expressed it without a thought. When it came to herself however she would not. She had too much pride to expose her own weaknesses, too much face to lose for telling of Josey's lowest acts. Her pride and self-respect would not allow her to speak up. What she suffered she would suffer alone, and keep to herself. She would not burden others with her own issues.

And that was wrong.

Ace didn't care what Kelly thought when she cleared her throat and spoke. "Why did you try to kill Kelly?"

The voices around her felt silent. Kelly froze up beside her and Ace felt a sideways glance scorch her cheek.

"What are you going on about, freak?" scowled Josey.

Ace was not daunted by her position as the centre of attention. "My first week here, you tried to slip something into her coffee. A drug of some kind. At diner you got really ill."

Josey, smiling, shook her head. "I'm glucose intolerant. I thought the pasta dish was my special order."

Ace wasn't fooled. "If you had actually touched your pasta then I might have believed you. But you didn't. You had one sip of your drink then bolted to the bathroom. Half an hour after you did, I went to check on you and you were hurriedly swallowing some kind of pill, an antidote no doubt."

The silence spoke volumes.

"You found out I had switched them so you tried harder than ever to get rid of me by setting the police on my back."

"You brought it on yourself," Josey blurted. "Lying to everyone about who you are and where you're from. Hiding secrets like that, it was only a matter of time before someone figured it out."

"And did you learn anything worth telling while you were snooping about?"

"Ace?" inquired Kelly.

"No, let her tell them." She prompted Josey with a nod. "Go on."

Josey hesitated, and Ace felt herself smile slightly. She couldn't. She might know the truth, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Josey had stumbled across the same problem Ace herself had encountered a few weeks ago in a hotel room far away; how can you tell the truth when you know no one will believe you?

"You…" she paused. "You're…"

"Yes?" Ace asked.

The girls watched Josey expectantly.

"You can't say it, can you?" Ace grinned.

"She's a time traveller!" Josey turned her head from side to side helplessly as the girls surrounding her burst out laughing. "It's true! She's a missing person from the 1980's! Why won't you listen?"

Kelly, secretly relieved by the other students' laughter, hid her smile. "Because who'd believe a story like that?"

Humiliated, Josey's temper rose. "Oh shut up! Why don't you quit trying to be the one in charge for once? If you hadn't spent so much time with Miss Fritton you wouldn't even be Head Girl."

The humour in Kelly's eyes faded. Her lip twitched. "Are you suggesting favouritism?"

"What else could it be? You're rubbish. You're never here. You never let us do what we want. You don't even deserve to be Head Girl."

She spat at Kelly's feet and Kelly's hand clamped down on Ace's shoulder, hard. Josey sneered at the enraged Ace who struggled to fight the pressure rooting her to the spot.

"You're no better. You do whatever she tells you to. Whatever 'Kit' says, you do."

The sneer didn't last long though for Ace unexpectedly lurched free and struck her nemesis in the face. There was a loud thud as she hit the ground, out cold. For almost a minute no one moved or said a word. All eyes were on Ace, but none were criticizing; instead they sparkled in agreement.

Later the details of the showdown would change. In some stories Kelly accidently let go out of shock, in others Ace broke free on her own, one even had Ace ask the former for permission to strike.

One thing however always stayed the same, the statement that followed the knockout blow.

"Nobody calls her Kit except me."


	32. The Hunt

**Author's Note: **The journey approaches its conclusion. The end is within sight. It's the big reveal. Did you guess the alien's identity right?

Two chapters remain. Enjoy.

* * *

**The Hunt**

'_Things are risky enough with just me and Ace knowing about it, she thought to herself. The more people who know, the more people are put in danger.'_

After quietly instructing the twins to take Josey inside, lock her in the sick bay and keep an eye on her, the Head Girl had vanished. No one saw her disappear and her whereabouts remained unknown for several hours. Ace hurried to the garage, but the van and the bike were both there. Concluding that she had not left the grounds, she resumed her search. It took Ace a while to find her perched on the roof just out of sight. Once she did, she returned a short while later with a cup of decaf coffee.

"Thanks," Kelly murmured as she accepted the drink and sipped it slowly. She had been there for a while because the chill had gotten to her and she had started shivering. The shivering stopped when Ace draped her jacket over her shoulders and sat down beside her.

Ace found herself looking out across the grounds. Somewhere out there, she thought to herself, is someone who was either really lucky or really smart when they chose this place to hide. It was hard to believe that through the trees, past the fence and off the grounds there were other people who lived boring normal everyday lives, who drove cars or caught the bus or train the work every day and did the same thing over and over. It was far more interesting here. More hazardous, yes, but never dull.

Does the shape-shifter see this place the same way I do? Ace wondered. Or do they just see an isolated place where no one will come looking for them?

Kelly frowned, unable to decipher the messages written on Ace's face. Although she understood 'Ace' dialect, the written form was as inconsistent as her mood. She sought a translation. "What are you thinking?"

True to form, the words that flowed off Ace's tongue came out exactly as she thought them. "That the alien, whoever they are, picked the best place to hide if they're on the run. Feared boarding school where nobody dares set a foot on the grounds, where the name alone can send men running with their tail between their legs… It's the perfect place to run to."

Kelly nodded in agreement. "We all ran here, one way or another." She finished her coffee and gently placed the cup to the side. "Is Josey still out?"

Ace fidgeted and scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "I prefer to think she's sleeping..." She stared down at her hands. "Still can't believe I lost it back there." She clenched and unclenched them. "If you hadn't been there... Well, she'd be a lot worse."

Kelly 'hmm'ed her agreement.

"But that look in her eyes when she said it," Ace continued, trying to justify her actions, "she knew what it meant. At the time that was enough for me. I didn't care how she knew, but I've been thinking it over and ... I think someone told her. Recently," she added after a moment, "or she would have said it sooner."

"I've been thinking too."

Ace glanced at her.

"What happened today," she began slowly, "was because of my curiosity." Detecting Ace's movement beside her, she added, "And don't say it isn't, because that's a lie."

Ace swallowed her words. It was clear that Kelly felt the need to say something, and interrupting her would do nothing but delay it for a few seconds.

"Your name and past would have stayed a mystery if I hadn't investigated, and by doing so I armed her with knowledge that was used to hurt you." All emotion had been removed from her words. "This is my fault."

Ace avoided her gaze, biting her lip. It was undeniable that some large proportion of blame sat on Kelly's shoulders. What could she say to such acceptance of the truth? No response felt necessary. The silence, although heavy and tense, communicated Ace's understanding and helplessness.

Kelly's eyes drifted across the horizon. "But someone else played a role in these events. Someone here deliberately manipulated Josey by providing her with that information. Whoever they are, they wanted you to get to you. Why?" She tilted her gaze towards Ace, searching for answers.

"I don't know," was the honest answer. "But they're the alien."

Kelly nodded. "They manipulated Josey to inconvenience you."

"I never had that 'alien' feeling I get because I was too busy watching my back in case Josey snuck up on me." Ace sighed. "All this time I've been here, they've been hanging around, keeping me preoccupied."

"Were you serious when you told me that it's your job to...?"

"Save the world?" Ace finished for her. "Stop bad aliens from taking over the world and hurting people?"

Kelly nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"Alone?"

"No. I..." she paused to collect her thoughts. "I travel with a friend of mine. Usually we fix things together but... Not this time. Things have been a bit stained lately," she explained to Kelly's inquiring gaze. "Things were said that weren't meant but they still hurt. So I got sent here, thought it was a break for me I suppose..."

Ace trailed off, remembering.

A short while later she jolted back to the present. "And it's so frustrating!" she shouted, picking up a small piece of broken roof tile and chucking it as hard as she could. "Because I can't think of anyone who didn't feel right. Not once. I mean, surely in the last month or so I've met every single person here. I should have felt it!" A thought struck her. "What if I haven't? What if, all this time, they've been avoiding me, and I've never met them?"

Kelly told her that it was highly unlikely, then went on to describe why. "They would have to know where you were every minute of every day and happen to be somewhere else without ever accidently bumping into you. That would be next to impossible."

"But it's possible," Ace insisted.

"Yes, but extremely unlikely-"

"Unless you've got eyes everywhere," Ace interrupted.

Kelly's eyes widened as she came to the same conclusion. "The cams," she breathed.

"Exactly."

"They can watch you anywhere."

"Almost anywhere," Ace corrected. "On my first day, you said this was one of the few places that was bug free, where we could talk without anyone listening in."

"But if they knew you came here often," Kelly continued with increasing concern, "they could plant one."

Both looked up simultaneously at the tower behind them. Something stuck out at an odd angle at the very top, and the sun caused part of it to sparkle.

Ace moved forward to get a better look but Kelly stuck her hand out. "Don't look at it," she instructed harshly.

"But-"

"They can't know that you know how they're watching you." She walked casually towards the tower until certain she was out of sight of the cam. "Sit down and pretend I'm gone." With her back against the wall, Kelly briefly searched their surroundings for other cameras. "Just one." She sighed. "And it had to be up there. Typical."

Kelly slipped off her heels and began climbing the brickwork. Ace couldn't help but take a glance and gave a brief chuckle. "Gee, I'm getting a feeling of déjà-vu. You, me, the tower, something at the top of the tower that needs retrieving..."

"You better not be looking, McKenzie."

A grinning Ace averted her eyes.

The voice called again from above a few moments later. "It's just a camera. Not an audio bug. I can't switch it off. All the circuitry is built in."

"So they're definitely a Geek," called Ace as Kelly climbed down, "because only they can use the cams, right?"

A few moments later Kelly was back on the roof and was slipping into her shoes. "Yes, but which one? I could ask Polly but..."

"She could be the alien?" Ace suggested.

Kelly's eyes threw daggers at her. "No! I know it's not her."

"But..." Ace hesitated, "she could be."

"She's not," Kelly stated, dismissing any possible argument. "I've known Polly for years. If anyone ever tried to pass off as her, I'd know the second I saw them."

Ace found herself envying Polly for being defended with such unwavering belief. Admittedly, Ace hadn't thought it likely for Polly to be the alien because Ace had never felt uneasy in her presence. Usually Ace could detect a hint of something odd around people who would later be pointed out by the Professor to be alien. Polly did not create any such feeling or inkling.

"I believe you," Ace replied.

It occurred to Kelly that Ace hadn't been accusing Polly and that she had overreacted. She sighed. "Sorry."

Ace waved away her apology.

"Polly could see what computer has been using the program frequently," Kelly went on, "and tell us who it was used by. But I would have to explain everything."

Ace frowned. "You think she won't believe you?" Polly seemed to have a pretty open mind. That usually helped a lot when trying to convince someone that alien life did exist.

Kelly shook her head. "She'd believe me, but she'd want to help us."

And what's wrong with that, thought Ace. The more people who know, the more help we can get to find her.

Kelly did not agree with that idea. "I won't risk anyone else getting involved. They could get hurt."

"I'm flattered you care about my safety, Kit."

Kelly smirked but it didn't last for a neutral look soon replaced it. "I'd be happy if you weren't involved," she admitted.

Ace's heart sank. "What?"

"But you're the one who dragged me into this and supposedly know what to do. So," she paused, "I kinda need you."

Ace beamed. "That's right. You need me"

"So, expert," she mocked with the hint of a smile, "any ideas?"

* * *

As much as Kelly hated to admit it, Ace's plan was brilliant. Flawed, but effective. Polly blinked several times when told that a 'Geek Meeting' needed to be held. She cooperated, mumbling meaninglessly under her breath as she was more than a little annoyed of being left out of the loop. Kelly felt extremely guilty but didn't even consider telling her the truth. Things are risky enough with just me and Ace knowing about it, she thought to herself. The more people who know, the more people are put in danger. This justification went through her head over and over again as Polly's eyes watched her, waiting for an explanation.

Another reason she withheld the information was that explaining would increase the likelihood of Ace's plan failing. There had been no audio bugs on the roof, but the same couldn't be said for the dorm.

It took a while for the message to make its way around the school. Coming up with a reason to call them all together was the hardest part. Kelly debated over a few choices before advertising a 'competition'. The only thing St Trinian girls enjoyed more than breaking rules, pulling pranks and partying all night, was competing against each other.

Geeks began typing furiously to bypass NASA's latest firewall (To keep things fair, Polly was severely handicapped by a 1996 PC that ought to be sitting on a shelf in a museum somewhere), while Kelly watched eagle-eyed as the list of the missing narrowed.

Ace paced nearby and her face shifted from one emotion to another. In the space of ten seconds it shifted from anticipation to concern, then from doubt to determined, and back to anticipation. Had her presence not been crucial to the plan, Kelly would have liked to send her away to preoccupy herself. It was excruciating to watch Ace's patience deteriorate. Even the most focused Geeks couldn't help but be distracted momentarily by her pacing.

Unable to bear it anymore, Kelly walked over and firmly pushed Ace down onto a couch. "Sit."

The command earned her a scowl. "I'm not a dog," Ace pouted and got back to her feet.

She didn't get very far. Kelly forced her down with a hand clamped on her shoulder. To ensure Ace wouldn't get up again, she sat beside her. Being seated did little to resolve the problem. Ace seemed to be brimming with energy and simply couldn't stay still. Although her twitching and the constant tapping of her foot were annoying, Kelly couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"Are you sure you're not a dog?" she murmured softly, "Because if you had a tail, it would be wagging."

Ace glared darkly and the foot tapping stopped. Looking away so her smile wouldn't be seen, Kelly counted to ten. As if on cue, the tapping resumed.

"At least try to look calm."

"Easy for you to say," mumbled Ace. "You're always calm."

Kelly offered her hand to Ace, indicating she look at it. Palm up, it looked fine, however when turned palm down, a million goose-bumps were revealed. Satisfied her message had been received, Kelly pulled back her hand and rested it in her lap.

"You look calm," Ace corrected with a mumble. She sighed, slumping back into the couch before jumping to her feet when a powerful pulse of energy surged through her. "Ahh!"

All eyes in the room were on her (Kelly shook her head in disapproval). Something in her jacket pocket was electrocuting her. Whatever it was, it was still doing it for the pocket was shaking slightly.

Hesitantly at first, she plunged her hand in, wincing as the jolting grew stronger. Her fingers closed around something and she pulled it out. The screen was lit up, displaying the words 'Incoming Call'. She nearly dropped it when it vibrated again. Ace stared at it, unsure of what to do.

"Are you gonna answer that?" asked Polly and Ace blinked at her uncomprehendingly.

Kelly saved her. "The green button, McKenzie."

The gathering sniggered. Ace reddened but began searching for it. She pressed it and held it up to her ear (And was glad that she had managed to do something right). "H-Hello?" she asked.

"_**You forgot which button it was to pick up, didn't you?**_" inquired a voice.

"No..." she lied, glancing around at the others who were watching her intently.

She heard a sigh but the any reply to that was drowned out by a babble of voices asking her questions. She blocked them out with a finger in her ear but it didn't do much good.

"_**What's all that noise? Have I called at the wrong time?"**_

"Hang on a minute," she said to the phone, then made her way outside.

* * *

The Geeks saw a strange look cross their Head Girl's face when Ace walked out. A mixture of shock, annoyance and disappointment, but they could only guess. Most doubted that anything could faze Kelly.

She bit her lip, still looking at the door. A moment later she turned to the Geeks. "Change of plan," she told them. "First to hack into that call wins."

* * *

"Why did you call me? Aren't you busy looking into that missing spaceship thing?"

"_**Dead end."**_

"How come?" Ace ducked as a First Year chucked a projectile at someone behind her. She glanced back, wary of retaliation. She caught the return projectile; a baseball; with her free hand and tossed it over-arm back

"_**Because I've already dealt with it, the future me. So I don't need to do anything, at least not yet.**_"

"That's good," Ace replied as she checked for traps before using the stairs. Things were so much more difficult when she was also trying to pay attention to what was being said on the phone as well as being aware of her surroundings.

"_**Hardly. I shouldn't have been able to land here, in this time, in such proximity to myself. Had I met myself...**_" He trailed off.

Ace stopped halfway down the stairs. She knew all too well that meeting yourself was not a good thing. He'd only explained that to her a dozen times. One person shouldn't be at the same place at the same time twice. "That's not so good. But you didn't so it's all ok, right?"

"_**Except it should never have happened in the first place!" **_he continued, persistently. He went on; unaware that Ace was having trouble keeping up with an argument between Taylor and Andrea going on in front of her. _**"... the First Law of Time... prevent Time Lords interacting with their past selves. I could have... broken it... changed the future ... chain of events..."**_

A window shattered nearby, drowning him out completely. "Sorry. Can you repeat that?" Ace asked.

A sound that could have been a sigh of annoyance came from the phone. "_**The chain of events that led to me solving this problem could have been shattered, the links broken into pieces, unravelling the strands that make up time!**_"

Sounds just as serious as I remember, she thought to herself exiting the building. What a relief to be out of such a loud place. Her head now had a chance to stop ringing and catch up with what the Professor was telling her.

"_**The Time Lords are supposed to prevent time distortions from happening to keep the timeline from shifting and ensure pivotal moments in history happen the way they should.**_"

"Maybe they're busy?" offered Ace.

His answer was too mumbled and quiet for her to hear.

"Look, as long as time's still going how it should be, everything's fine."

She hoped that sounded reassuring. It was harder to read the Professor's mood on the phone. She couldn't see his face, couldn't watch for that twinkle in his eye, couldn't see if he was running his fingers through his hair as he puzzled over something, and couldn't tell if he was trying to avoid her eyes. It was impossible to predict his thoughts without actually seeing him.

"So what else have you been up to?" she asked, changing the topic.

Best not to let him dwell on things that could have been for too long. Otherwise he starts going on about it for hours, mulling over possible futures, rationalising actions and lecturing about consequences (He was quite fond of 'pebble tossed in a lake' analogies. Ace had a theory he just liked saying the word 'ripples', although she had to admit his pronunciation didn't sound so terrible).

"Bet you've landed yourself in trouble a dozen times without me around to bail you out."

She heard him chuckle. "_**Not that often. Only half a dozen or so.**_"

"Liar," she teased. "How many?

"_**Ten,**_" he admitted. "_**And three times in five hours on one occasion. They just couldn't understand how vital it was that I got into the Tower of London's vault. Instead of helping me find the info disc that didn't belong to this century, they charged me with treason. I told them 'It's not treason if the country won't exist unless I free the crystalline psychic being contained on that disc,' but-"**_

A strange sensation caused her throat to feel tight, like something far too big was trying to squeeze through it. "You broke into the Tower of London without me?"

Realising what she had said and remembering the inability of her current location to conduct a private conversation without someone somewhere overhearing, she clapped her hands over her mouth and looked around wildly. No mob of people came running towards her. Nobody stared at her with accusing eyes. Luckily her throat had been so tight that the girls on the hockey pitch a few meters away were unable to hear a word.

After a few moments of panic, she removed her hands and tried to calm her racing heart.

"_**I distinctly remember you telling me that you didn't want to go to the tower.**_"

"We were in Buckingham Palace's basement! I didn't want to get caught!" she explained. "I didn't want to go down in history as the youngest traitor in the United Kingdom."

"_**You wouldn't have. The youngest person accused of treason was 16 years and 10 months, a man called Herbert Burden,**_" he informed her, and she rolled her eyes; something he would have scowled at if he'd been able to see her.

"Still, you could have at least told me what you were doing before you did it," she argued. She sighed and gave up pursuing the matter. "Sorry," she apologised. "It's just... It feels like ages since I've seen you."

"_**I only saw you a few days ago.**_"

"It was only a few days ago, but it feels a lot longer than that because..." She stopped herself from ending that sentence with 'there's an alien somewhere in the school that I've been told to find them or U.N.I.T will raid the place and I don't know who it is and I've barely had eight hours sleep in the last 40 hours'.

As easy as it would be to tell him about the problem, her instincts were telling her it was not the right thing to do. He could probably pick the alien out easily and resolve the whole mess in under an hour but Ace's skin turned cold at the thought of the Professor finding out exactly what she'd been doing while she was 'finishing her education' and the true nature of the school he'd picked at random for her.

Her thoughts were overwhelmed with the consequences of obtaining his help. He'd whisk me out of here, lecture me for a good few hours about 'behaviour' and 'blending in' and then ship me off to another boarding school who knows where that will be an actual school, a proper school where kids got punished, had to do homework, listened to their teachers, obey the rules and pass their exams, and couldn't punch someone in the face when they deserved it without being suspended or expelled.

Ace shuddered. No way. I'm not doing that. If I have to deal with this thing by myself to prevent that from happening then look out alien!

"... because," she continued a long pause later, "I've been so busy, you know?"

Ace was suddenly very glad they weren't talking face to face. He would have spotted her indecision and interrogated her until he got the truth.

Because he could only hear her though, the Professor accepted the lie. "_**I'm sure you have. So it hasn't been quite as terrible as you thought it would be?**_"

"It's not so bad," she admitted.

* * *

"Anything I should know?"

Ace jumped but relaxed, recognising the voice. "No." She saw the familiar look of doubt; the eyebrow rising. "It was nothing really. Just a friend."

Kelly nodded slightly before glancing at the phone still in Ace's hand. "I forgot you had a phone," she commented. "But, judging your reaction when it went off, you had forgotten too."

"I don't use it. There's not that many people to call."

Kelly's face softened. "How come? You're the kind of person who gets on with everyone."

Ace shrugged. "Some places don't have phones, you know, or phones don't exist yet. And, well, one of the first things I did after finding out I was in outer space was try to ring the friends I had. Didn't know that I was trying to call fifty billion light years and six thousand years into the past. The calls failed to connect and I ended up with a debt that would take me 50 years to pay off if I worked every single waking second of my life."

"So that friend that rang...?"

"We travel together," Ace explained briefly, "but enough about me, did it work?"

Kelly seemed hesitant to allow the subject to change, but decided to ask about it again later. "All but one showed up, and not long after you left they arrived."

She quietly said their name. Ace stared blankly for a few moments.

"I've heard that name before." As hard as she tried, she couldn't recall who they were or what they looked like.

"You hid her books, remember?"

A mental image of a girl surrounded by Geeks watching the stock market on their laptops appeared in Ace's head. "That girl?" Ace tried to remember if anything had felt strange about her then realised she'd never spoken to them.

"Well, she was very interested in you when you first arrived," Kelly informed her. "She was practically obsessed. She had all these crazy theories about who you were. 'Ace must be a spy'. 'Ace is a Russian sleeper agent'. The only thing she never suggested was the truth; time travel."

It occurred to Ace that there was a reason that theory never surfaced. "She figured it out, but knew no one would believe it. That's why she came up with all those theories. But why has she been avoiding me?"

"Imagine you're running from the law," Kelly offered. "You hide in a school, surrounded by people. Then someone new comes. You start to wonder if they're with those after you."

"I'm not part of the Shadow Procla-thing," Ace protested.

"She doesn't know that. All she knows it what she found in the records; that you're a missing person from the 1980's. I don't know much about aliens, but someone who hasn't aged in 20 years has either travelled in time or is an alien. And time machines don't exist on Earth right now, so either way, alien intervention has occurred. When someone with your kind of background shows up out of the blue, she'd be running for cover."

Well, when you put it like that it does make sense, thought Ace.

"If they'd been human, I would have thought they were a fugitive, not a dangerous criminal on the loose," Kelly commented then shrugged. "At any rate, it doesn't matter. They wanted us to find her. We have. All we need to do is hand her over. So we contact them and they'll deal with the rest. Job done. No more aliens, no more U.N.I.T, no more investigating." With a satisfied smile, she walked off.

"Wait."

Kelly turned on her heels.

"What if we've been lied to?" Ace asked, expressing the doubt that had suddenly overwhelmed her. "What if we have it all wrong and, like you said, they're not dangerous, just in hiding? They haven't hurt anyone, and they haven't told us what they've supposedly done-"

"It's none of our business," Kelly interrupted. "We don't need to know. The most important thing is for this problem to be resolved, without U.N.I.T's intervention. That's what we have to do."

"We can't just hand them over like that!" Ace exclaimed. "Don't you care if this is all a misunderstanding, or if someone is wrongly imprisoned for things they didn't do?"

"I care," Kelly replied sternly, "that the hundred odd people who call this place home can sleep at night without fear of intergalactic criminals, soldiers or police. I care that every day they are as safe as possible, and it's because I care that I am involved in this." She met Ace's eyes. Her glare was blinding, so Ace was forced to avoid locking gazes with her. "And if by keeping them safe someone else is wrongly punished, then it's what I must do."

Ace swallowed, seeing she had hit a nerve. "I understand." She meant it. "I know exactly what you mean, and I agree that handing them over is the best thing to do but give me a chance to talk to them. That's all I'm asking, just to talk to them. Words aren't going to hurt anyone. I just... I can't... I have to hear them out, even if nothing is gained from it."

Ace watched Kelly's head slowly nod. "That's reasonable but…" Her index finger hovered in the air while she considered her words.

She's going to say that she has to be there with me, Ace thought grimly. It's already going to be a tense confrontation, but I doubt the alien's going to feel any more at ease with another person around. Kelly's dominating nature isn't exactly going to help things either.

The finger jabbed Ace's arm. "You be careful."

"I'm always careful." Ace smiled back, before rushing off in a hurry.

"That isn't my only condition!" Kelly shouted, and then raced after her.

* * *

After forcing Ace to agree to her other terms ("Don't let anyone else find out, don't let her hurt anyone, and for God's sake don't cause too much trouble") Kelly felt a lot better about letting Ace talk to the alien. That was until Ace told her she couldn't be around while she did it.

Kelly's concern increased tenfold. She's planning on doing this without me? Ace wasn't logical and never thought things through. She acted instinctively and things tended to go crazy whenever she went off on a whim. "You'll do something crazy if I'm not around to stop you. And why does it matter if she knows I know about her?"

Ace answered with her eyes. 'Think about it,' they said.

Kelly had thought about it but refused to acknowledge Ace's concern. "Even more reason to-"

"Josey is gonna wake up any minute now," Ace had interrupted. "She won't be in a good mood and the first thing she's gonna do is try and get back at me. But I can't deal with her when I'm trying to talk to them."

Kelly was beginning to hate it when Ace spoke sense. She hated it even more when Ace was right. Ace was better suited to dealing with an alien encounter, just as Kelly was better suited to dealing with Head Girl issues, such as an enraged Josey. It was just plain annoying when both issues required solving at the same time. Her responsibilities forced her to grit her teeth, stifle her argument and indicate her understanding with a short nod.

As unlikely it was, Kelly knew she had to make sure Josey didn't get out. The safest way was to keep an eye on her herself.

* * *

Ace began searching the grounds like a bloodhound. Now she knew the identity of the alien it was far easier for ask for directions. After all, you couldn't go around asking, "Hey, did you see where that alien went? I don't know what they look like. What do you mean you can't help me?"

It was far easier and less conspicuous to ask, "You seen Alex?"


	33. Confrontation

**Author's Note:** A double update! Felt it was only fair to update the last chapter and epilogue at the same time. See Epilogue for final author's note and other details.

* * *

**Confrontation**

_'I have nothing! No ideas, no information, no plan!'_

As Ace had predicted, Josey had only just awoken when Kelly arrived at the sick bay. The twins looked up from their game of poker and smiled sheepishly as she shook her head at them. So much for guard duty, she thought but she smiled at them. They beamed back and their grins only widened when they caught a small chocolate bar each. They were the last of Kelly's own stash but, in her opinion, they deserved them.

It was needless to say that Josey was not in as good a mood as the twins. No amount of chocolate could sweeten her mood.

The mere sight of Kelly caused her to thump the window violently with her fists. She shouted obscenities that grew more colourful as she realised they were having no effect on her target. In fact her words were barely audible through the glass, but Kelly dismissed the twins and sent them outside. No need to expose them to that kind of vocabulary. They were far from innocent but Kelly couldn't help but attempt to shelter them at least a little.

She glanced back to ensure they had gone before turning back to the glass. "There's no need for that, Hill."

Muffled words and thumping answered.

"I'm going to count to three before I open the door."

The thumping subsided. As angry as Josey was, she wasn't an idiot. She knew she was trapped and had no way of getting out. Refusing to cooperate wasn't going to help her.

Kelly reached for the key then hesitated. Unable to trust Josey not to try and barge through the door when it was unlocked, she slipped the key's chain around her neck before quickly turning the lock. Josey pulled at the door. It shuddered, but Kelly gripped the door handle and prevented it from opening. Kelly's neck hurt as Josey's attempts to open the door kept jerking the chain and in between Josey's attempts to open the door she removed the key. Knowing better than to wait for Josey to give up, she counted to five. On four, she let go. Josey fell backwards, caught off balance. Kelly used this moment to slip inside the sick room.

The door slammed shut. Josey jolted to her feet, eyes on the key around Kelly's neck. She rushed forward, throwing out punches like a whirlwind. Kelly sidestepped, caught one of the sloppy punches and twisted. Josey yelped. Kelly twisted a little further to straighten the arm until the protesting girl was on her knees and had tears in her eyes.

"Quit it!" she sobbed. "You're breaking my arm!"

"It only hurts if you struggle," Kelly replied coldly, but adjusted her grip to prevent Josey's arm from accidentally snapping in half under the strain. "We need to talk."

* * *

"We need to talk."

Alex jumped in alarm at the sound of Ace's voice. "W-What?" she stammered.

She didn't get a chance to finish for Ace grabbed her by the arm and started leading her away from the school building.

"It's Alex, isn't it?"

"Yes..." the girl answered in a worried tone. She clearly didn't like being pulled along.

Ace didn't like the dragging either. The second they had locked eyes she had flinched. Two bright green eyes stared at her in disbelief, the same gaze that had haunted her dreams for many nights. As Ace had stepped closer she had felt it; a tingle, a slight buzz of unease; the telltale sign of an alien presence.

When she had grabbed her arm an electric shock zapped her. All the hairs on the back of Ace's hand stood on end as the faint electric current flowed through her. An energy being, she'd realised. That explained the weird jolts of electricity like that time I touched the Head Girl room's door and got zapped. I must have touched it not long after she did.

It also explained her ability to shape shift. The alien didn't have much of a physical form, just an orb of pulsing light or something like that. They must create forms with their energy, manipulate it into shapes.

Oddly enough the uneasy feeling was not as strong as she thought it would be. Has my ability to detect aliens dulled over the last few months, wondered Ace. I don't feel threatened either. She doesn't seem to be very aggressive, at least for now.

Ace released her hand as she made to sit down. She gestured Alex sit down too, and the Geek was hesitant but eventually complied.

"So Alex, where're you from?" Before Alex was able to open her mouth to answer, Ace interrupted. "And when I say where, I mean which planet?"

The Geek flinched. "W-what?"

"I said 'what planet are you from'?"

Alex answered a little too quickly, "I don't know what you're talking about?"

Ace rolled her eyes. "Come on, there's no need to pretend. I know the truth. I know who you are."

The Geek's shoulders twitched slightly as she slowly rotated her head. Had her eyes been lasers, Ace's face would have been scorched and scared. "And I know who you are," returned Alex with unexpected menace.

"So what?" Ace baited, acting as if confronting aliens disguised as humans was what she did every day. Well, not every day. Every other day. "Your secret's pretty big compared to mine. At least I'm human."

The air between the pair rippled with tension and electricity. Ace winced as a spark jabbed her hand. It was clear the alien's mood was worsening and their anger was growing. Careful, thought Ace. Better not agitate them too much. I don't want to end up as a fried chicken or get hit by a bolt of lightning.

"Look," she began, "I didn't mean to sound like I was threatening you. I just wanted to make sure I got through to you."

Alex scowled, not liking what she (it?) was hearing.

"I already knew you knew about me,' Ace continued. "How else could Josey have found out? You told her, because you saw me as a threat, but I'm no threat to you."

Alex shook her head, refusing to believe the truth. "They contacted you," she stated. "You're going to give me to them."

She knows, Ace realised. I don't know how but she does. That would definitely make me a threat in her eyes and make her more likely to zap people. "I'm not a bounty hunter or a mercenary," Ace clarified. "I came here to finish school, ok? I didn't know you were here, I didn't know they were here, and I sure as hell didn't want to get involved in any of this."

Ace's skin momentarily stopped buzzing with electricity. The alien was still cautious and a bit suspicious, but not as angry anymore. "What do you want?"

"The only thing I want is to make sure no one here gets hurt."

The alien glared at her. "They're not your problem," she stated with a metallic tone. "Why do you care?"

"Because these people are my friends. Well," Ace added thinking of Josey, "most of them. And they haven't done anything to you or the space police and you're endangering them."

"You don't care one bit about what happens to me," she accused. "You just want to fix your own problems."

Ace bit her lip. She couldn't deny it. It was very close to the truth. Things had gone a little too far into 'Professor-you-handle-this' territory. Except this time there was no Professor to take over.

The alien's words were starting to get to her. Is she right? Am I the one to decide what happens to her? It doesn't feel right to have that kind of power over someone else. It's like holding someone at gun-point, forcing them to do as you say. No, this is wrong. I can't do this. I can't be responsible for what happens to her. I can't be responsible for deciding someone else's future. What if I make the wrong choice? What if my mistake means she is wrongfully imprisoned for years, or that she escapes and goes on to threaten the lives of hundreds of people?

Alex tutted. "You're useless."

"What?"

"Even though you could demand anything of me, you don't. You don't want power. You have no desire to enhance your position from where it currently is. You're just a Beta, and have no ambition."

"What-what's a 'beta'?" asked Ace confused.

"The one who always comes second, the one who always loses to the alpha."

The explanation was lost to Ace's ears. "Alpha?"

"The leader, the head of the pack; what you call the 'Head Girl'."

"You called?"

The pair jumped. Alex stiffened abruptly. Ace turned her head and saw Kelly was standing behind them. Her shirt was creased, her scarf off centre. The short black hair that framed her face was a mess with stands of hair all over the place even though Kelly was flicking pieces of hair back where they belonged as she watched. Small red marks that looked like they had been caused by fingernails covered her arms and the backs of her hands.

Kelly looked right past Ace. Alex looked like she was on the verge of shaking. Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, Ace placed her hand on Alex's arm, and felt a surge of electricity flow through her. She stood abruptly, sensing what the alien was thinking, and placed herself between them.

"Don't," she said quickly.

Kelly's eyebrow rose at the oddness of Ace's actions. She was oblivious to the danger she had placed herself in. The alien didn't take her eyes off Kelly, as if calculating her next move.

Kelly took a step forward. Alex's eyes widened. A white beam zigzagged around Ace to zap Kelly, tossing her back a few meters to lack on her knees in the dirt.

"Kelly!" Ace rushed towards her. Realising there wasn't anything she could do to stop the beam from continuing to electrocute Kelly she turned back to the alien and shouted, "Let her go!"

A look of hesitation crossed Alex's face before she disconnected the beam. Freed, Kelly fell towards the ground, just catching herself with her hands. Ace quickly checked how she was.

"I'm fine," Kelly mumbled, looking and sounding far from it.

Ace helped her to her feet, the Head Girl wincing slightly as she was firmly tugged upright. Upon closer inspection, Ace caught sight of the dark purple mark on Kelly's arm that had been left by the beam. Kelly steadied herself then glanced at where she'd been struck and touched it tentatively. Ace heard the 'zap' of the remaining electricity jump to jolt her finger.

Ace marched over to the alien, her face reddening with anger. "There was no need for that!"

"You told her," Alex accused in a low voice that did not belong to a teenage girl.

Ace's blood chilled. That 'alien-detecting' sense had intensified and she instinctively felt her hackles rise.

"I found out myself," Kelly replied.

The alien scowled at her, waving a finger warningly. "I am not stupid, nor am I a fool. A human finding out about me? Impossible."

"Nothing is impossible." Kelly warily kept an eye on the finger.

"But this is a level five planet," the alien argued. "You haven't even made first contact yet. I've searched your wireless communication networks. No evidence of the existence of alien life is available to the public."

Kelly smiled at her ignorance. "We have also searched those networks, using methods some would call 'illegal'. I have personally seen a spaceship crash into Big Ben. I am under no illusion; alien life does exist. And," she added glancing at Ace, "once you've accepted that time travel is possible, life in outer space doesn't seem that farfetched."

The alien stared at them both. Ace, who'd grinned at Kelly's last sentence, blinked and examined the gap between her and Kelly that the alien was looking at so intently. She couldn't see anything, but maybe, she figured, it was invisible to the human eye.

"How strange a duo you are," the alien commented. "A girl from the past, and one from the present, one stranded in the wrong Century, the other who feels entrapped by her duties, one who never stops running and the other who wishes she could."

Ace opened her mouth to speak but the alien raised her voice.

"The one who follows her instincts and the one who plans her every move, the bringer of chaos and the skeleton of order, fire and ice, the Alpha and Beta of a pack of girls who are believed to be uncontrollable. Yet what will they become, those you lead?" asked the alien. "Like all those who are strange, they will quietly be taken away and accept the careers offered to them, as smugglers, spies, assassins, thieves, mercenaries and terrorists. How does it feel to be responsible for their futures, and the lives their actions will change?"

Kelly's face darkened, but the impact of the alien's words could be seen clearer on her skin. It had turned cold. Goose-bumps had risen to the surface. Her hands clenched tighter than Ace had ever seen them and an inner rage started bubbling over. "They do not come here to learn such things," she stated, her voice icy cold. "They come here because they aren't accepted anywhere else."

"Yet it's what you do, is it not? You trade a deadly weapon, information."

Kelly growled and the alien stepped back, startled by her display of aggression. "I am not a killer, but tempt me further and I just might change that," she threatened.

"And what a perfect example you set-"

"Shut up!" Ace yelled, knowing Kelly did not make idle threats. Allowing her to be provoked further could only lead to physical conflict and, to be brutally honest, if such a fight were to occur it would not be Kelly who held the upper hand. "Leave her alone!"

The alien turned, as if ready to face her next opponent. "So speaks the 20th Century teen abandoned in the 21st."

Ace's jaw clenched.

"You have been left alone, in a place where your presence is as illegal as mine," the alien continued. "You have nothing to prove who you are, no papers, no passport, no identity."

"I don't need to prove anything!" Ace returned. "I know who I am, and that's enough."

The alien shook her head. "Not if you get caught. You're a fugitive hiding from those of your own blood. Time has done nothing to repair the damage done to them and their lives."

Something dark stirred in Ace's mind. "You know what?" she addressed Kelly in a low tone. "Don't bother staining your record."

The Head Girl's brow furrowed, trying to interpret the meaning behind the words.

Ace met the alien's eyes. "I think I'll beat you to it."

They have no idea what I do day after day, she thought. They have no idea what I've seen, what I've done. Josey didn't either, but she would never have understood. She wouldn't have believed a word, but this alien, who's been out there and knows the kind of danger that lurks in space, they can understand and if they think threats are going to stop me they've got another thing coming.

"Tell me," she began slowly, keeping her voice low and even. "Have you ever seen a Dalek?"

The alien flinched. That was answer enough for Ace.

"I've been eye to eye-stalk with several," she continued. "They are in pieces. Do you know why?" She paused, watching the alien's face for a reaction. "They called me small. So go ahead," she offered darkly. "Call me whatever you want. Make my day."

The alien was forced to re-evaluate the conclusion she had formed weeks ago about who the greatest threat was. Currently, things were not playing out like she had predicted. Being on school grounds should have meant that the Head Girl, the Alpha of the students, had the biggest influence and, therefore, was the biggest threat.

That conclusion was wrong.

Somewhere in the midst of conversation, she had unknowingly stepped onto the Beta's territory. The alien found herself on unstable ground. The Beta, although clearly not formally trained in any fighting style like the Alpha, was even more aggressive and far less predictable. And that unpredictable nature made her dangerous, because that meant the Beta was unlikely to use the obvious and feasible methods that the Alpha would use.

The alien glanced at Kelly. The roles of Alpha and Beta had switched right before her eyes. Despite this, no friction could be seen. Rank did not seem to dictate how they treated or respected the other. Such loyalty was intriguing. The bond they share must be strong if such can occur so seamlessly.

Such a bond could be exploited.

In one rapid motion, the alien fired a bolt of electricity at Ace, fixing her to the spot while Kelly was grabbed from behind. A current of electricity numbed the Head Girl's muscles, allowing her to be manipulated into a position between the alien and Ace. The current however caused the bolt to stop and Ace surged to her feet but halted immediately when the alien hovered a finger just above her captive.

"Don't move!" the alien instructed. "You wouldn't want her to have another shock, would you?"

Ace seethed at her inability to do anything. She had never felt so helpless or angry. "Let her go, Lava Lamp!" she yelled, knowing the threat was next to useless while Kelly was still within reach of those electrifying fingertips.

"And waste an opportunity like this?" the alien scoffed. "I don't think so."

"If you touch her I'll-"

"Idle threats," the alien interrupted. "Just idle threats. You wouldn't dare do anything because you know I would do it."

"We can talk about this," Ace tried to negotiate. "You want to get home? I can get you there-"

The alien laughed, and the tremors caused its fingers to inch even closer to Kelly's neck. "Why would I want to go there? I have no intention of ever going back." The alien's smile widened. "So you do have a ship. I've been looking for it. Only minutes ago I picked up on call, a call shielded by advanced technology. You contacted your ship."

Ace could do nothing to stop her face paling.

"I thought as much. You will take me there."

Ace nodded in agreement, unable to do anything else.

Kelly shouted in alarm, "You can't help her-" but flinched as a finger briefly brushed her ear.

"But she hasn't much choice, Miss Jones," the alien smiled and Kelly's eyes widened as she saw two glowing green eyes. "She can't refuse. It's a big school after all; plenty of other hostages. Do you think she'd be more willing to help if someone else was in your place? Maybe your annoying friend with the red glasses, or one of two First Year children who you protect as though they were your siblings?"

Kelly's face of defiance fell as she was struck by the revelation.

"So think carefully about trying to escape. You wouldn't want to be responsible for their fate if my control... slipped. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly," she breathed.

The alien watched her for a moment before releasing her. With a nervous sigh, Kelly joined Ace. She accepted Ace's offered hand unconsciously and squeezed it. The pressure eased off as she composed herself.

Ace's eyes closed. I'm sorry, she thought silently wishing she could say it aloud. It's all my fault. I should have listened to you. Talking to them has only made things worse, and now everyone's in danger and there's nothing I can do about it.

* * *

The walk to the dorm couldn't have been harder if a dozen bricks had been tied to her feet. What made matters worse was that Kelly felt so distanced from everything and everyone, even though she passed several people on the way. It killed her but she smiled back at them as though nothing was wrong, as though it were just a normal day, just a normal trip up the stairs. The weight of the entire school's fate sat on her shoulders, and the burden had never felt so heavy. But she couldn't buckle, couldn't break down. She had to go on or another would be forced into her position. It was one of the few things that kept her from either tearing up or fleeing. Sheer will and multiple layers of her emotionless mask allowed her to enter the dorm and not fall apart when Polly approached her.

"Kelly, we had no luck. The security of that call, I've never seen anything like it. We tried triangulating, tracing via GPS-"

Kelly couldn't help but remember the alien's threat.

'_Maybe your annoying friend with the red glasses.'_

She turned away, unable to look at the Geek any longer. "Not now," she managed. "I'm busy." She hoped that sounded vaguely normal. But Polly was unusually persistent.

"The signal was scrabbled completely. It was as if it bounced off every single object in the solar system-"

"I'm busy," Kelly repeated shortly as she continued walking. She silently begged Polly to dismiss the matter. Thankfully, Polly took the hint and said nothing more.

Kelly reached Ace's bed and picked the backpack off the floor. After a moment's hesitation she opened it and searched inside. A can of nitro sat at the very top and it seemed to tempt her to take it out and use it. For a moment Kelly considered doing so but soon realised that, although it was an incredibly useful tool, it couldn't help solve the current crisis. With a sigh that she convinced herself wasn't disappointment, she dug deeper. She expected the bag to be similar to Ace's pockets but it was, as physics said it should be, smaller on the inside.

The contents weren't very impressive once the can was ignored. The clothes Ace had arrived in, a few badges that seemed to have become unattached to her jacket, safety pins, a phone and a key. She examined the last item closely, it being the reason behind her being sent into the dorm. It was plain silver and had a thin leather cord attached to it.

"_You can't get in without it_," Ace had said. "_You could fire electric bolts at it all day and it'd never open_."

She closed her hand around it. Knowing Ace's hands were tied due to the alien's threats, it fell to Kelly to create a situation to change the balance of power.

But what can I do, she wondered. I can't act instinctively like Ace can. She can impulsively disrupt things without any planning whatsoever. I can't. I plan ahead. I examine all the possibilities, identify all the threats and create plans then pick the one with the highest rate of success. She's the one who sees a train and gets on, hoping it goes the right way. I'm the one who looks at the timetable and make sure I get there. She tries to make things happen now. I organise things to run on time and happen when they should.

Kelly sighed. Why aren't I stuck outside with the alien and Ace in here? I'm just agonising about how I can't be spontaneous while she'd actually do something. She's probably thinking I'll have a whole plan thought up by the time she sees me next and that she'll just have to play along.

I have nothing! No ideas, no information, no plan!

What help is knowing how to communicate with the space police people in U.N.I.T if we're found out the minute we try to call them?

Kelly halted and peered back towards Ace's bag uncertainly. For a second, she'd thought... No. Wishful thinking. That's what feeling helpless does to you. You jump at anything that could possibly help.

Just before she dismissed it completely she felt it again; the floorboards vibrating. The bag moved. Hardly daring to breathe, she reached into the bag again, pulling out the phone. The screen was lit up and displayed 'Incoming Call'. She stared at it with disbelieving eyes.

What are the chances-? She cut off that thought before she could jinx it. Kelly faced a dilemma; dare she answer? It could be the very thing that ends up fixing everything, or escalate the situation further. Was it worth the risk?

The phone vibrated again. She thought frantically, trying to decide before the caller gave up. Could things really get any worse than they currently are? Yes because no one's been hurt, only threatened. Could the caller actually help? Probably not, but its Ace's phone and she said that no one calls her. She sounded very happy to hear whoever was on the phone before. What if it was them again?

A voice in the back of her head tried to put some sense back into her. You can't answer, it argued. Have you forgotten that the alien noticed the last time Ace's phone rang, that they said they could detect the call? Sure, they couldn't trace it, but they'll certainly notice it.

Rational thinking eventually prevailed and she watched the phone cease its vibrating. Even if I do answer it isn't going to be of any help, even if it is the alien police. The alien will suspect I'm plotting something. She frowned. Am I really that predictable? If so, I have to act differently, give the impression that I am too scared to do that. Admittedly it wasn't that hard to do when you're legitimately concerned. Things have just accelerated so fast! Half an hour ago, things had just calmed done and we'd identified the alien. Now things have gone crazy.

A shiver ran down her spine when she briefly wondered what had happened to the original Alex. It seemed desperate and unrealistic to think that somewhere the real Alex was alive and well. Kelly's perception of reality rarely allowed her to imagine such a fate. But she tried to hold onto that hopeful thought if only to help her get through the current situation.

The flaw with the 'pretend to be scared' idea was that it might fool Ace instead. Kelly didn't think it was even possible to create a plan that Ace would follow exactly without talking her through it several times, let alone without any prior knowledge. Ace never acts according to plan...

A light-bulb flickered to life in Kelly's brain.

I don't need to predict what she'll do, she thought feverishly as tiny pieces of a plan started falling into place. I only need to set up an opportunity Ace will think is part of my plan and she'll take the alien completely off guard.

Energized by the emergence of an idea, however vague, she sighted Chelsea's mobile phone lying on a bedside table. She began punching numbers into it as she left the dorm. Out in the corridor she hesitated with her finger hovering over the dial button. One shot, she thought to herself. One chance to get this right. Mess it up and that's it, chance gone.

She dialled the number.

"_**Hello, you've reached Pizza Place. How can I help you?**_"

Her heart sank. No. Wrong number. She was about to hang up when she changed her mind. Go with it, she decided. See where things end up. The least you can gain is nothing. Kelly cleared her throat. "Yes, I'd like to order..."

* * *

"You took your time." Ace tapped her foot impatiently for a moment and waited for Kelly to answer. When she didn't, Ace sighed and held her hand out for the key, which Kelly passed it over. When the alien reached for it, Ace kept it out of reach. "Oh no, you don't! You're not laying a shape-shifting limb on this."

The alien scowled.

"And don't think about zapping us and taking it," Ace added. "Even if you found my ship and got inside, you'd never get it to fly."

Not that I can fly it either, she thought to herself. Not that I know where it is either and even if I did I wouldn't tell her.

The scowl deepened before the alien averted her eyes to meet Kelly's emotionless brown orbs. Ace sensed there was even more tension between them than before.

"I know what you did," the alien announced pointedly. "You didn't fool me."

"I did as I was asked," Kelly replied calmly. "I retrieved the key."

"And the phone?" the alien promoted.

"Phone?" asked Ace, confused.

"Your phone went off again," Kelly clarified, not blinking despite intense scrutiny. "I was unable to answer it."

The Professor again, Ace thought immediately. Two calls in one day? But why? It didn't make sense unless he was in a different time and didn't know when it would get through. Or, it occurred to her, he knew something was going on that she hadn't told him about. If it was for the later reason, he would certainly try again. And again, and again, until he was certain it wasn't just a coincidence and came to investigate.

Ace found she was in two minds about that. On one hand, help would be really useful right now. On the other, she didn't want him to come. He'd be in danger too and it wasn't just the alien who posed a threat to him. She could see it now; a strange man appearing suddenly on school ground then being noticed and attacked by at least a dozen girls. The second option would be a lot harder to explain than the first.

The alien broke into her thoughts again. "And the pizza?"

Ace blinked. Did I miss a topic change? A minute ago they were talking about phone calls, not food.

"It's our cover," Kelly defended.

Cover? That sounds like 'spy Kelly' talking.

The alien was far from pleased with Kelly's answer. "I told you not to communicate with anyone-"

"If we just waltzed off the grounds as we are," Kelly interrupted, "I can guarantee we'd be approached by at least ten people before we even reached the gate. I did what I had to do to ensure that did not happen."

Ace watched the exchange like a spectator at a tennis match. She wasn't quite sure what they were talking about, but it was evident who had just scored.

The alien eyed Kelly darkly. "You will not act without my instructions again."

Kelly's eyes narrowed but she did not object. "How are you planning on getting away from here?" she asked. "They've been monitoring the area for months. Won't they detect you once you leave the grounds?"

The alien chuckled. "Not if I look like this." Her skin rippled.

Ace blinked. She had to blink again before she could come to terms with the fact that she was not looking at a mirror but a perfect replica of herself. She reached out her hands and compared them to those in front of her. A terrible tremor went down her spine and she shivered violently. The alien looked identical to her, even down to the scars on her hands. Ace knew the stories of each one and found it hard to swallow when the alien smiled smugly.

"I've been practising this form, trying it on for size a few times, just in case it came in handy."

Ace found her mouth hanging open and shut it as she organised her thoughts. "You..." Her face hardened. "You've been pretending to be me?"

"Maybe," her copy suggested.

"Stop that!" Ace demanded. It was wrong hearing herself form words and sentences she had no control over. "Stop being me! You can't be me. Only I can!"

"She's right," Kelly added and the pair glanced at her. "You couldn't pull it off."

Ace watched her copy's cheeks redden with anger. "This form is perfect!" she defended. "I've had weeks, months even, to perfect it. We are identical. No one could tell the difference."

A flicker of a smile appeared on Kelly's face. "I can." She pointed at the alien and pointed out the faults. "Your hands are too clean, no dirt under the nails. Your smile seems forced. Your stance is all wrong because you spread your body weight evenly and stand up unnaturally straight. Ace leans forward slightly, she bounces off the balls of her feet. And that's only how you look. The second you say something, anyone would know something was wrong."

It's weird to watch yourself frown, thought Ace. Her copy shrugged. "I don't have to fool you or anyone else at the school, just the police. But this is only a backup in case of emergency, because they far more likely to suspect a person than an ordinary object."

The air around Ace's double shimmered for a second. It seemed as though the alien had turned invisible.

"Where'd they go?" asked Ace.

Kelly looked down and pointed at a familiar dark blue and white scarf. "There."

For a moment, Ace didn't understand before realising they were both wearing scarves and the one of the ground didn't belong to either of them. She squinted at it. "She hasn't even got eyes, ears or a mouth anymore," Ace commented. "Can she hear us?"

The scarf glowed slightly and rose into the air.

"I think it can see and hear us well enough," answered Kelly.

The scarf bobbed up and down as if nodding. Then it lurched towards Kelly's neck, much to her alarm. When she felt no tingle of electricity, she relaxed slightly but eyed it cautiously as it grabbed the real scarf around her neck, untied it and let it fall. Kelly caught it and watched the alien take its place underneath her shirt's collar. It tied its ends together and straightened itself so it rested evenly. Finding it a bit too tight for her liking, Kelly tried to loosen the knot but stopped when it glowed brightly and threatened to zap her.

Ace was unable to offer any assistance. Nonetheless, Kelly glanced at her. "There's an alien around my neck," she stated then looked at it again for a moment. She shook her head in disbelief. "A living scarf refuses to remove itself from around my neck."

"It's a bit clingy. Anyone would think it likes you," Ace joked without thinking, but quickly shut up when Kelly's glare scorched her check. "Sorry," she apologised.

The alien grew warm around Kelly's neck. "I think we're supposed to go," she interpreted, pocketing the real scarf.

Ace led the way, biting her lip whenever Kelly couldn't see. Where am I supposed to go, she asked herself. How can I take them to something that I don't know where it is? It might be on another planet or in the future or in a prehistoric jungle or somewhere sideways in time? What's going to happen to us when I can't take them to the TARDIS?

Gordon Bennet, what am I supposed to do?

The pair had reached the end of the driveway. "Where to now?" asked Kelly and Ace cringed.

"Err..." she hesitated.

Think Ace, think! Pretend you know what you're doing, that you know where you're going. For once in your life, tell a convincing lie.

"Left," she announced and set off without looking back. She couldn't risk her face being seen as it'd immediately give her away.

Next intersection, she decided, we'll turn left or straight then right. We won't end up going in circles if we do that, right? She hoped not.

A few random turns later, Ace's anxiety increased dramatically. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. She could feel sweat on her palms and heat rushing to her face. Yet Kelly, who was forcibly wearing an electric collar of sorts, was remarkably calm whenever Ace stole a glance back. She didn't seem concerned by Ace's decreasing certainty whenever they reached a crossroad. She wasn't walking like someone being forced to follow. She walked upright with a sense of purpose in her strides.

She doesn't know, Ace thought glumly. She has no idea that I don't know where the TARDIS is. She thinks everything's going to be alright because I'm 'the expert', and I've dealt with this kind of thing before, but I haven't! I'm making it up as I go. I'm stalling for time except it doesn't really matter how long I slow us down because we'll never get there. I've doomed us.

As if knowing the exact moment encouragement was needed, Kelly winked an eyelid.

Ace's senses jolted alert. Why'd she wink at me? What did it mean?

Kelly's eyebrow rose.

Ace's thought spiralled out of control. Has she got a plan? Is she trying to tell me something? Did I miss something really important? Am I supposed to do something or lead us somewhere?

She tried to remember anything that had seemed odd and found herself remembering the brief exchange about cover and pizza. Was that important? Was pizza supposed to mean something? Was it an acronym for something, or did it really mean pizza? Is that where we're supposed to go, a pizza place? I don't know where to find one. I don't even understand why she'd even think about food at a time like this. Usually she's the one complaining about me thinking about food. Why would she go out of her way to order pizza, pizza of all things? Why did we need 'cover' when no one would bat an eyelid if we just vanished off the grounds for an hour or two? Why had the alien sounded worried about it?

Ace forced herself to keep walking when she was struck by the revelation. She turned the corner automatically and found herself in the middle of a park. She halted as she took in her surroundings before meeting Kelly's eyes. The expression on her face must have given her understanding away because Ace didn't need to say a word. Kelly merely nodded.

"End of the road," Ace announced.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, as if finally interpreting the meaning of the statement, the scarf flashed green then red for a moment.

"No," Ace replied to the aggressive behaviour. "I'm not helping you anymore."

The scarf untied itself and its ends twitched in a manner that could only be seen as menacing if you knew that contact with them could send a thousand volts through you. Kelly, well aware of this, remained perfectly still.

"I mean it," Ace continued. "I'm stopping this right now."

The twitching paused, as if it were considering its options, before shimmering and altering its shape.

Ace almost gagged at the sight. It wasn't the fluid, immediate shift from one shape to another that she'd seen before. This one was very different. It was jerky, raw and repulsive to look at for it wasn't a complete change. It was only partial, the transformation seemingly stuck between two forms, splicing them together to create a hideous combination of the two. Ace's stomach churned and threaten to rebel when a vaguely human face slowly pushed itself out of the material of the scarf as though it were a thick layer of honey and jelly and two fluorescent green eyes bulged and strained to piece through it.

"Do not play games with me," warned a voice like sandpaper through a split in the fabric. A scarf end was raised to Kelly's neck height and remained there as if being held up by a string to clarify the threat.

Ace swallowed, suddenly uncertain, but then she saw Kelly holding her head high in defiance and was reassured. She stepped forward. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," she returned. "Because, if I know Kelly, she's already called the Shadow police people and told them we think we're on to something."

The alien's eyes widened in alarm and looked straight up, trying to see Kelly's reaction, except her face was as unreadable as a billion year old book in a lost language.

"And," Ace continued, her confidence growing with every word, "I bet she's set a deadline for her next update so if she doesn't get back to them they'll start looking for us."

The disfigured alien squirmed, its limbs twitching with electrical energy, and Kelly flinched as it brushed against her skin. "Nothing's changed," it rasped. "You wouldn't risk hurting her to stop me."

"I dunno about that."

Kelly's eyes abruptly met hers, suddenly full of worry with the darkness within Ace's tone. Don't worry Kit, Ace thought. I know what's going on now, and I won't let you down.

"You're an energy being," Ace stated. "You control electricity, but we haven't seen you do anything except give off little electrical shocks. I've only seen a few little ones from you but," she shrugged, "nothing impressive. Sure, you stopped us from moving for a few seconds, but is that it? Just how powerful are you?"

"Twenty-thousand volts," the alien relied proudly.

Ace nodded. "Twenty-thousands volts in a one jolt? I imagine that would hurt."

The alien smirked menacingly.

"I also imagine," Ace continued in a matter of fact way, "that using that kind of power would be like turning on a spotlight in a dark room." She paused for a moment, letting the words sink in. "Like a great big 'X' marking the spot, you know," she elaborated, "just a bit conspicuous to those scans the police are using."

The smile disappeared.

"Do you think they'd notice a huge energy spike in the area and think 'Hmm, that's odd. Maybe we should investigate'?" Ace watched every word's effect on the alien's appearance and colouring. "Maybe they start looking around and, oh look, they see us. They come over and start asking questions, and I doubt your little disguise will fool them close up."

The alien pulsed with energy, furious.

"Is that really a good idea?" Ace taunted. "They mightn't need a big shock to track you down, just a few little ones."

Kelly's eyes gleamed with delight. "You've trapped yourself," she stated. "You've exposed yourself, moved out into the open."

Ace nodded. "Exactly! You can't make us do anything because you'll give yourself away. So, what are you gonna do? Zap us and tell them where you are, or watch us walk away."

Ace hoped the alien would make the right choice. It's a standoff, she realised. Kelly is still in danger. The alien might be a sore loser.

However, Ace had not considered how the 'hostage' of the situation would react.

"It isn't your choice," Kelly declared then added, "You have no power over me!"

With that Kelly grabbed one of its scarf ends and tried to jerk it away from her neck. Uttering a horrible screech in surprise its limbs launched itself at her throat with enough force to push her backwards. Jolted into action by the sound, Ace rushed over to assist Kelly. Its limbs tried tying themselves together and clung for all it was worth, constricting itself around Kelly's windpipe. The alien's slimy texture prevented their hands from getting a good grip. Ace racked her fingernails across it, creating thin gorges in its body that oozed green. It screamed and sparks radiated from it, but Ace ignored it as best she could, trying to concentrate on preventing the alien from strangling her friend.

It attempted to shape-shift again but the constant pulling and tugging from different angles stretched its current form, rendering it unable to retract its shape to stay attached. With a violent yank and a loud sucking noise Kelly was freed and the stretched alien was flung to the ground.

Ace quickly pulled Kelly to her feet, wincing as the remaining static electricity zapped them, and they both backed away from the creature. Resembling a large living lump of play-dough, it squirmed towards them in sudden leaps and bounds. Before it got too close, Ace launched herself at it, tackling it to the ground. Terrified of being squashed, the alien let loose as many volts as it could manage.

"Ace!" cried Kelly, running forward but stopped when Ace yelled at her.

"We can't let it get away!" Ace shuddered uncontrollably for a moment before being able to continue. "Need something to trap it."

Kelly whipped her head around frantically and disappeared from Ace's sight. A hot burning sensation crept over every inch of bare skin. Electricity was slowly frying her, and she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes to try and shut the pain out.

"Hurry!" she shouted.

Suddenly Kelly was there, pulling her off the creature by the back of her shirt. The alien squirmed, tensed its limbs then threw itself towards Ace. Something large intercepted its course. The alien struck it with a metallic 'twang', then Kelly upturned the object, trapping the creature beneath the object and sat on it.

The only sounds for a few moments were the girls' panting and the occasional thump of the alien fighting to free itself. Kelly glanced up in alarm when she heard an expected outburst.

Ace looked unable to breathe despite her mouth being wide open. "Bin..." she managed. "You used... a bin..." She pointed a finger at Kelly. "You're sitting on a bin!" She began laughing uncontrollably.

Kelly stared at her uncomprehendingly for a few seconds, before realising what the hysterical girl was talking about. She looked down at herself. Her expression abruptly changed for one of victory to one of mortification before she closed her eyes and sighed. "It appears I am, yes" she replied.

Although she didn't find it anywhere near as amusing as Ace did, she couldn't help but admit it must be an odd sight. She tried to imagine herself in a terribly creased uniform, wearing heels with wild hair and casually sitting on an upturned metal bin in a park. Kelly's imagination was far from lacking, but she couldn't visualise it at all. It was simply too absurd.

In an attempt to regain some dignity, Kelly began patting at her hair and combing it with her fingers. It refused to return to an acceptable state. She glared darkly at Ace who was bent over double, before placing her hands on her hips and tutted.

The sound of Ace's laughter was overwhelmed by a loud 'vrooom'. Ace froze, her laughter caught in her throat. Kelly turned her head and sighted Mr Alien-Policeman in the distance behind her, having appeared from nowhere.

Teleport, thought Ace having seen the light blue glow that preceded his arrival. What a cheat. We had to walk all this way and he just pops out of the air. Typical.

He strode towards them, clapping his hands in a steady yet ominous rhythm. Uncertain where they currently stood with him, they watched him cautiously, remembering all too well that they had hardly walked out of the building he'd put them in.

"What a way to contain a shape-shifter," he proclaimed and indicated the bin. "Trap them in a tight space where they are unable to grow into a form to free themselves."

Kelly looked at Ace, who merely shrugged in reply. Neither of them had considered that; they'd been too busy trying to keep it away from them.

"Not the method I would have used, but efficient nonetheless." He examined his wrist. "And how quickly you managed on your own! Why, I doubt even the Judoon could have beaten your time without causing extensive damage. And so discreetly too, except the pizza stunt you pulled." He glanced at the pair as if assessing a school project of theirs. "But I suppose it hardly matters. You managed to complete your task."

"You mean, we completed your task," Ace returned with venom, disliking his choice of words. "You dumped us with your dirty work."

"And how efficient you were in dealing with it," the policeman continued as if she hadn't said a word. "The pair of you are to be commended for your success."

"Success?" Ace exclaimed. "You call this a success? It was a disaster!"

The man scratched his nose absentmindedly. "Admittedly it was far from perfect and suffered due to several flaws, but yes, overall, I would daresay it was a success-"

"Had your plan been a 'success'," Kelly interrupted, "we never would have become involved at all. Had it not been for Ace's unpredictability, your blunder could have resulted in the deaths of at least a hundred people."

"An unfortunate side effect of being upholders of the law is that we must obey it," the policeman informed them. "The death of the young girl who's form the alien assumed is also unfortunate."

"Alex?" Ace asked, her voice hollow. "She's dead?"

"Quite some time ago," he replied without emotions. "It was extremely improbable that the shape-shifter would have let her live. After days of watching her, learning her habits and practising assuming her form, there was no reason to keep her alive any longer. She became a loose end, a compromising factor, a risk to the alien's cover, and had to be nullified."

Kelly closed her eyes. In her heart, she had known the real Alex no longer lived, yet she had clung to the hope that she was wrong. Like with many other occasions, she wasn't.

Unlike Kelly, Ace was not rendered unable to speak with the news. "You can't talk about her death like that!" she shouted, furiously. "She's a person!"

"A person you never met."

Ace recoiled, stung by his words.

"The only 'Alex' you knew was an imposter, a disguise for the alien to allow it to avoid detection."

"How long?" asked Kelly, keeping her cool. "How long have we been deceived?"

"The last day the real Alex was alive was the 7th of July."

Kelly jaw clenched with a mixture of pain and utter rage. "Was she just an 'unfortunate side effect', a sidenote in your mission?" she asked.

The intergalactic policeman, unfamiliar with that tone, made the mistake of replying. "Her death was regrettable yet-"

Kelly's fist struck the side of the bin she was sitting on and she jumped to her feet, keeping a hand on the bin. "She had nothing to do with this and you say her death is 'regrettable'. You had months, months to resolve your problem and capture that alien, yet you failed to do anything but watch time pass by. You allowed it to roam amongst my girls and peers day after day, months after month, and do nothing, waiting for it to make a mistake and reveal itself." She locked eyes with the policeman. "You are as much to blame for her death, for your blundering and lack of competence got her killed!"

"You could not have done any better. You were not capable of doing anything. You knew nothing of aliens, nor any idea about how to identify or deal with them."

"No, I didn't," Kelly admitted, managing to keep her tone even.

Ace caught glimpse of that familiar glint she saw in the Head Girl's eyes when she was plotting something.

"But I do now." She drew herself to her full height. "I know who and what you are," she declared. "I know who and what you want, and I have it right here. And," she added, "I also know that if I take my hand off this bin, I will not be the one attacked by the creature beneath."

The policeman began to look very worried.

"You see, as much as I despise and hate it for what it did to Alex and it distrusts me," Kelly continued, "we understand each other. It knows I can free it, and I know it sees you as a much bigger threat than myself."

All eyes were drawn to the bin which rattled and shook in response to the statement.

"Now," Kelly explained, "I have no desire to make myself an enemy of alien law enforcement, but I also have no desire to see aliens amongst my peers again. So, I offer you a compromise."

The policeman listened carefully to her terms.

"I let you take it and complete your mission, and have your word that no alien shall ever be permitted to trespass on the grounds of St Trinian's again, or..." There was a long pause as Kelly exerted her power by forcing him to wait. "I let it go and all our hard work goes to waste, yet we won't be the ones forced to deal with it this time."

Ace gaped at her. Her skin tingled with an unexplainable feeling she had experienced but a few times in her travels through time and space. Her mind began to replace the image of the girl standing eye to eye with a member of the intergalactic police force with that of an angry Time Lord. Ace had no doubt that, had it been him standing there instead of Kelly, he would have said the same. He would have manipulated the situation in the exact same way, and made the same demands.

All at once, Ace saw the many similarities between them. Both stubborn, both calculating and strong willed, both masked their emotions from being read from their face, both possessed strong morals and defended them to the best of their ability, both were a force to be reckoned with once angered.

And, most of all, both took everything incredibly personally.

This was 'Kelly Head Girl', the equivalent to that stormy look Ace saw that clouded the Doctor's eyes. It did not matter that she was dirty, hurt and had been held hostage. Determination radiated off her and it was as plain as day that she would get her way whatever it took.

"Have I made myself perfectly clear, Mr Alien Policeman?"

The policeman, seeing the storm in her eyes and soul, nodded.


	34. McShane Epilogue

**Author's Note: **This it is . **The last chapter of 'Wicked! Sounds Like My Kind of School'**. For an epilogue, its quite long but it didn't feel right to split it into another chapter and the epilogue as it all belongs together. This update is (To my knowledge) one year since I posted the Prologue. How time has flown.

Over the course of a year, I've wondered how 'Wicked' would end, at times doubted if it ever would end as it seemed to keep going on and on. What you see below, which was not the ending I had predicted, was written about a month or so ago and has sat at the bottom of my 'Wicked' word documents waiting paitently for me to slot it onto the end.

I hope this ending meets your expectations, because for an awesome companion whose departure and final story has never been explained or seen in official cannon ('The Sarah-Jane Adverture's mention that occured during the writing of this story was a delight to hear but some doubt still lies in my mind and, presumably, amongst others about what exactly happened to her) Ace deserves at least one more decent adventure with a good ending. Of course, being a fan fic and Doctor Who, the story always goes on, whether on TV, computer screen or in someone's imagination.

Now I'm going to stop prattling on about stuff, because instead of reading this, you should be reading the ending. **So get reading!**

And if you want to post a comment or review afterwards, by all means do so. Also check my profile if you want as I am considering adding some 'aditional material' about stuff or explaining anything that didn't make sense if anyone asks via comment/review.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Epilogue**

**McShane**

After finalising details of the 'St Trinian-Shadow Proclamation' agreement with Mr Alien Policeman's supervisor, the alien had been handed over without any more fuss. Amazingly, something else had resolved itself by the time they'd returned to the school. Josey had done a runner and Ace had sighed with relief upon hearing the news. The very thing that had haunted her mind the entire walk back from the park was that she just might have to deal with yet another confrontation with the bully before getting the sleep she really believed she deserved. Then she found herself worrying about an unexpected return, but Kelly put those fears to rest by reminding her just how thoroughly beaten Josey had been. "She's hardly going to come back in a hurry," Kelly had commented with a smile. "She knows when to cut her loses."

The first thing the pair did upon their arrival was head straight off to bed.

"I have never been so pleased to see a bed in my life," Kelly had mumbled with a face full of pillow.

She'd been too tired to walk the extra distance to the Head Girl's room, so one of the First Years who usually slept beside Ace had been forced to surrender their bed. Yet another side effect of the 'saving the world' experience; you got extremely grumpy when people didn't cooperate with your needs and ended up threatening a dozen people before they learnt to give you a wide berth for a while.

Quite a few people had given them odd looks, murmuring amongst themselves that they had never seen the pair looking so ragged and dead. The twins, as well as a small number of others, inquired into their absurd injuries and appearance (Messy hair, creased uniform and thin painful looking marks across Kelly's neck and palms, red weeping blisters on Ace's hands, frizzled eye-brows and strange bruises on her stomach, legs and arms) but received no answer. After all, how could one explain without using the words 'alien', shape-shifter' or 'electricity'?

Instead they said nothing, allowing the student body to do one of things it did best; speculate and spread rumours. Like that secret wealthy boyfriend who had become infatuated at the sight of Kelly after their meeting in France two years previously had kidnapped them and they'd had to break out of a three storey building to get away. Or the tale of the pair of them sneaking something illegal into the country and having to fight their way out of airport security, or the dramatic story where they gone to pick up pizza and had been hit by a car.

Kelly had shaken her head. "How unfair is that? We saved them all, and they'll never know."

Ace glanced around, surprised she'd said that within hearing distance of other girls within the dorm but quickly saw they, although trying extremely hard to look inconspicuous as they attempted to listen in, didn't understand a word and were beginning to consider if it was worthwhile learning Arabic if only to understand the private conversations the pair shared.

"Tell me about it," Ace replied, allowing the language to slide off her tongue as if she'd spoken it since birth, wondering why they had never thought of using it in such a way before. "Try doing it for a living. It gets even more frustrating."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "It can't get any more frustrating than Chelsea pressing me for details about my supposed Russian boyfriend."

Ace snorted and disagreed. "No, no it can," she assured her, "especially when the twins start asking me for tips for smuggling highly sensitive equipment to Norway and get annoyed when I tell them it's really not a good idea."

"That's a relief."

"Not when they told me they'd resort to posting it through the mail if they had to!"

They fell asleep not long after that and neither moved a muscle for a good twelve hours. However they eventually forced themselves to get up to intervene when another 'Chav-Emo' brawl broke out. Dealing with the problem was relatively easy, but their ears rang from the noise. They mutually decided to escape for a short while to clear their heads.

Off the grounds where nobody could hear them, Ace and Kelly had, for the first time in weeks, the time to have a normal conversation with each other. Well, as normal a conversation between a 21st Century leader of an anarchic school who led a double life as a spy and a 20th Century time/space traveller who frequently saved the world could be.

"So you really are-"Ace exclaimed but Kelly silenced her with a hand over her mouth.

"Not if you blurt it out to the world." She was smiling though when she said it.

Ace ducked away from the hand. "I mean, I always thought you were but really? You're a spy?"

Kelly nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Ace felt it was terribly unfair that Kelly had refrained from telling her the truth for so long. "I told you about time travel and aliens, and you only tell me about this now?"

Kelly shrugged. "I'm only telling you because I've resigned."

"What?"

"I don't have time to worry about missions and sneaking about."

Ace heartedly disagreed with that. Sneaking about was Kelly's thing; it was what she was good at. So, assuming that she got paid for her work and enjoyed it, why would she give it up?

Kelly didn't need to reply for a horrible thud rang out, followed by cheers. The pair quickly found a vantage point that overlooked the school; a large sturdy tree.

"Gordon flipping Bennett!" Ace cried in alarm, catching sight of an object that had been hurled through the air. "Was that a wheelbarrow?"

Kelly pulled herself up onto a higher branch and pushed aside leaves for a better look. "Bit large for that," she commented. "I'd say a small car, maybe a trailer."

"They used a catapult to fling a car halfway across the hockey-pitch?" Ace glanced up at her. "What are you looking so smug for all of a sudden?"

"I think your question just got answered. This is why I knew I had to give it up. I've got my hands full enough here as it is."

Ace was about to argue with her when an explosion rang out. It also caused her to reconsider if Kelly spending too much time away from the school doing her 'spy' things was such a good idea.

Kelly looked only slightly concerned about the sound. Nonetheless, she suggested they go back and assess the damage.

* * *

A while after that Ace found her on the roof with a notebook on her lap and a pen in hand. Kelly immediately closed the book, sensing someone nearby, but relaxed when she saw Ace. Ace was surprised to see the Head Girl was rewriting the 'St Trinian-Shadow Proclamation' agreement into the journal, "Just in case they get ideas about coming back in a few years time when I'm not around."

Ace took the book and flicked through the pages, glancing at a few diagrams that had been drawn in it, particularly one that detailed the security of the Head Girl Room. Kelly snatched the book back.

"What?" Ace asked, indignantly.

"Head Girls only, I'm afraid." Then Kelly's eyes sparkled. "Unless you have plans for next year..."

Ace held her hands well up into the air. "Uh-uh. No way. You've got to be kidding!"

Kelly's eyebrows arched but said nothing more.

"You know," Ace said, changing the subject quickly before Kelly could get any more insane ideas, "there's a loophole in that agreement."

Kelly's eyed widened. "Is there?" She quickly riffled through the pages until she found it. "What is it? Is it their signature?" she asked, sounded very near a panic. "Because I really thought I should have insisted that the highest figure of authority of the organisation signed it, but then they said it would take months to be approved, and I didn't want them finding a way to squirm out of signing it altogether-"

Ace stared uncomprehendingly at her. Wow, Kelly really is concerned about this, she thought to herself. She hadn't looked it when she'd been negotiating. Agreements and treaties and that must be very difficult to arrange, but I've never seen her so worried about anything before. And I do wish she'd stop looking at me like that, she added noticing Kelly look at her for the sixth time in the last two minutes. It's like she thinks I can actually know what the hell she's going on about.

"-what do you think?" Kelly finished, looking very breathless.

Ace blinked, pretending she had absorbed everything Kelly had said. "Uh..." she paused then tried to look like she was considering a solution. Kelly watched eagerly. "I don't think you need to worry about that," she finally answered. "I'm sure it will solve itself. I mean, you can't possibly have thought of every single scenario and prepared for it when you created the terms in half an hour," she continued, keeping it deliberately vague. "Even you had been working on it for years you couldn't have perfected it, so relax."

Kelly sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. For a second there, I thought you didn't have any idea what I was talking about."

Ace's gulp went unnoticed.

"But you've probably done this a hundred times over. I'm surprised you didn't help."

Ace scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah, well, about the loophole..."

Kelly traced a line with her finger. "I thought you said it was fine."

Ace shook her head. "Not that bit." She pointed at a different line that had caught her attention when she had skim-read it. "That bit."

Kelly read it aloud. "'For as long as the area designated in subsection three remains under the ownership of its founders or bear the name of St Trinian's, no alien shall enter the grounds without prior consent given by the Head Girl, or, in the event that the position no longer exists, the highest authority of said area.' What of it? I thought that was the clearest part of the whole thing."

"The way it's worded," Ace told her, "it makes it seem like you're inviting aliens to come and visit."

"And what if it is?"

Ace gaped at her, unable to believe her ears.

Kelly didn't allow time for a reply. "I remember what you said before; that not aliens are bad or want to take over the world, just like not all humans are good or bad. Yet there's no record of good aliens on U.N.I.T's database, because of how they deal with them. They use guns and resort to violence in order to get rid of beings they didn't understand or saw as a threat."

Her disapproval was clear through her tone. Ace said nothing.

"It made me think that it wasn't just humans that valued freedom and broke the rules for what they believed in. It made me think, is there a place for them to run to, like girls run here, but out in space?"

"I have no idea," Ace admitted. "Never heard of one."

"So, why not here"

Ace blinked at the suggestion. "What, aliens come and live here?"

Kelly nodded.

"Kit, do you really think that's such a good idea after everything that's happened?" Ace asked. She admired Kelly for her revolutionary thinking. She was all for change and open-mindedness but even she had her doubts. "This planet hasn't even had its first 'official' contact with aliens yet. You're talking about people from different worlds coming here and living amongst humans, not just you and me, but everyone; people eating breakfast next to aliens with green skin, purple scales or looked like giant bugs." She scratched her head. "I don't know if that could work, let alone go unnoticed by U.N.I.T, the Shadow police people or even the neighbours."

Ace watched Kelly's face fall slightly, acknowledging the facts. "No, it wouldn't work. Too many things would prevent it from happening, too many problems that can't be solved. At least," she added, "not yet."

She glanced up at the sky, seemingly inspired by it.

"But maybe one day," she continued, "maybe even a hundred years from now, they can. Someone someday may make use of that loophole, that's why I made it." She turned the page back to bookmark it for later as if to emphasise her point. "That's why I've written down everything that happened over the last month or so."

"When you say 'everything'," Ace began starting to feel worried, "do you mean everything?"

Kelly paused, which didn't ease Ace's fears. "It's an abridged version," she eventually clarified.

Ace's eyes narrowed. She made a grab for the book but Kelly kept it out of reach.

"You can't read the book," Kelly reminded with a fair amount of teasing.

"What did you say about me?" Ace tried again but was unable to steal it. "Give it!" she demanded.

Kelly eventually grew tired of baiting Ace and simply stood up and walked away, leaving a frustrated Ace on the roof to fret over what the book contained, and secretly plot ways to get her hands on that book and find out.

* * *

A while later, Ace caught word of an 'Intense Loud Sound' and sought the twins to translate the meaning for her.

"A party?" she asked, eyes wide. She found herself grinning. "Wicked!"

Her enthusiasm dropped when they tried to rig one of the many 'party games' to earn a profit, to which Ace flatly refused. There's no way I'm getting that drunk again just for a stinking drinking competition, she thought to herself, especially if they're going to make money out of it. Who knows what they'll spend it on; not sweets that's for sure. The twins adopted sad, puppy-dog faces to try and change her mind causing Ace to swiftly retreat.

* * *

Overall, she thought, sipping her drink later that night, things have gotten much better. No Josey, no more aliens, no more being the one getting beaten up every second day. That had to be good. At least that's what she tried to convince herself anyway. Despite all the reasons to be happy, Ace found herself in the dumps and had no idea why.

Even when Kelly pulled her up to the very front of the makeshift stage when the school song was being sung (Which she remembered from the last party; the girls really liked their song), Ace's stomach churned uneasily. She pushed it aside, ignored it the best she could while dancing and jumping with the crowd. The minute she fought her way out for a breather the adrenaline rush from the lights, music and general chaos around her started fading away.

She found it hard to relax. Every time she tried, the tiniest thing would put her nerves on end, such as the sound of a glass smashing against the wall or the occasional shriek when someone's foot got stepped on or someone tripping and snowballing into a large group of people and to send sent them sprawling to the ground. She watched Andrea and the Emos usurp the Chavs from the DJ table and swap the light pop hit to a different track and tried to get into a more suitable mood for her location.

Parties are supposed to fun. Parties aren't held for people to stress out about stuff. Being unable to relax at a party meant something was wrong with you, or something was very wrong with the party. After a very quick process of elimination, Ace determined it was the first reason and felt like groaning with annoyance. That'd be right. When everything's all calm, alien-less and practically normal, I get edgy and irritable. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't this be what I want when everything goes mad? Isn't this what I save the world for; to keep things as they are?

She stared sightlessly into the crowd as she examined her thoughts. This has to have been the longest I've been in the one place at the one time in so long. I should be enjoying every moment while I can because who knows when it will end? And I know it will, because that's what happens. I travel somewhere, visit for a while, meet people, save the day and then...

Ace shook her head roughly. No! I'm not thinking about that. I won't! To ensure the thought did not return, she decided she needed another drink.

It was as she made her way across the room that she noticed Kelly's smile didn't quite reach her eyes either. It occurred to Ace that the party wasn't just for fun like she had tried and failed to convince herself. It was more of a wake. When she briefly mentioned this feeling, Kelly's smile wavered for a moment before she had nodded slowly. Ace didn't know what was sadder; that neither of them could bring themselves to tell the others about Alex's death, or that nobody had asked where she was despite having seen no Alex, imposter or otherwise, on the grounds for over 24 hours now.

Suddenly feeling ill, Ace removed herself from the party and sat on the lounge in the 'chill' area. She remembered sitting in this exact spot and telling the school about the time she'd blown up her old school's art block. She also remembered the Headmistress' laugh and shook her head at how worried she'd been about being kicked out. How much I've learnt about this place since then, she thought.

The distinct laugher continued and Ace frowned. It sounded a little too real to be a recollection. Taking one look, she shuffled across as the owner of the laugh made to sit beside her.

"What sleaves have you been pulled from?"

"What?" Ace asked, puzzled by the words.

The crackle rang out again. "One can be the greatest poker player ever to live, but if they haven't got the odd ace in their hand, they may never win."

"Nobody's playing poker..." Ace answered, confused.

The mad lady shook her head. "Life is poker, my dear. You play the hand you're given, and if there's an ace in there all the better for the player and all the better for the game. Livens things up a little. A suitable name for you, don't you think?"

Ace looked at her blankly.

"Take that brat of a girl," the Headmistress continued. "Brought Kelly no end of grief. She had no cards to play to defeat her. Then she draws another card, you, and the game changes completely."

Ace began to see what the Headmistress was trying to say. "I guess I did help. She was just a bully. I can't stand people picking on others who can't stand up to them."

"Yet the game goes on, other players adding cards to the pile. Some, encouraged by your appearance, begin to show their own hand, revealing eights, nines, tens... Even queens," she added after a moment. "Yes, even the ice queen, the most influential card of the deck, has warmed since your arrival."

"Some of that made sense," Ace told her, "but the rest, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Their potential was always there, yet it took someone else to show it to them, point out their strengths and make them acknowledge their weaknesses. You."

"Me?" Ace asked.

"You," Miss Fritton repeated. "Kelly too, but mainly you. After all..." She trailed off. "No, I think that's not for me to say."

"What?" Ace pressed suddenly curious.

"You'll have to see her about that." Miss Fritton rose to her feet with a loud groan. "Now, I do believe a shot of whiskey is in order. Can't let you girls have all the fun."

Ace smiled and watched her stumble out. Not long after the Headmistress had vanished from sight Kelly entered via a different door.

"There you are!"

Kelly joined her on the lounge. Her eyes had that excited gleam to them. She looks a lot better, Ace thought, much happier than she was before. Very much the life of the party as always.

"Quite a party, eh? My head's still spinning. Can barely hear myself think." Kelly swallowed a mouthful of Trinski. "I got you a drink," she added.

Forcing a smile, Ace accepted the bottle.

"What are you doing in here anyway?"

"Got a bit loud in there for me," Ace fibbed. "So I came in here." She then added as an afterthought, "I just spoke with Miss."

"Did you? She looked pretty out of it a few minutes ago. Too much punch I think. She's not usually this wild. Mad as bag of gerbils obviously, but I don't think I've ever seen her this wild."

"Does she always talk so… oddly?"

Kelly nodded with a smile. "That's what I used to think. Didn't understand a word of what she said half the time."

Ace knew that feeling perfectly.

"And then, sometimes days later, it would start to make sense. You just needed to really think about it. Personally, I think she sees things differently to most people, and it takes a while for it to sink in." She smiled. "Like about a week after you arrived, she asked to see me and starting going on about something really confusing. She tried explaining it to me, but it didn't work. Then she mentioned you and I knew exactly what she meant."

"What did she say?"

"'Sometimes people need to be guided, sometimes they need an idea, and sometimes you need to tell them exactly what to do. But, more often than not, they just need to be pushed into a pit of trouble so they can see they can do it themselves.'"

"What's that got to do with me?" Ace asked.

Kelly grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You're the one who pushes them in."

Ace returned to the party a while later. She'd been unable to bring herself to ask Kelly about the thing Miss Fritton had hinted at because she had no idea what is was and asking Kelly a vague question was like asking the Professor what he was thinking; you'd certainly get an answer, just never the one you wanted.

Ace mingled amongst the other girls for a minute or two, but that uneasy feeling returned to her. Deciding she needed more punch, she walked over to the table of beverages. She reached for a plastic cup and managed to knock the whole stack over. With a curse under her breath, she picked them back up again only to knock them over a second time. What is wrong with you, she reprimanded to herself. You're not usually this clumsy.

Mid-pour, her jacket suddenly vibrated. Sighing with frustration she cleaned up the mess again, trying to calm her nerves. It's ok. It's just a phone. It's not an alien and it's not alive and it's not going to bite me. Regardless of that reassurance, she carefully retrieved the device from her pocket.

'_**One New Message.'**_

Ace frowned at the screen as she tried to remember which button to press. That green one looked good, but that round centred button seemed more attractive. Taking a wild guess, she pressed the round one and, to her delight, the message opened. It was quite brief (Probably a good thing as she wouldn't have known how to scroll down to read the rest of it), only 5 words.

Ace peered over her shoulder, checking Kelly was nowhere in sight, before finishing her punch with a large gulp.

* * *

"And where are you going?"

Ace cringed, took a moment to control her breathing then turned her head to look behind her where the owner of the voice was standing a few meters away, looking right at her.

"Just needed some air," Ace lied, and winced at how feeble the lie sounded. If she could notice the presence of a lie, she knew it didn't stand a chance once heard by her follower.

"And you needed to change to do that?" inquired the voice. "And take your bag and all your things from the dorm?"

Out of sight, Ace bit her lip. Bugger. Should have known to leave the party later when everyone was either asleep or unconscious instead of slipping out when the party was in full throttle and everyone was jumping and hollering the lyrics to the music. I should have known better than to think I could get away without being seen.

Damn being so noticeable.

Damn for taking the most direct and visible route.

Damn Kelly Jones and her ability to be everywhere at once and sneak up on people.

"Well?" the Head Girl inquired.

Of course she would find me. Stupid of me to think otherwise. She's probably been following me from the moment I left the party and only announced her presence now at the gate when she realised what I was doing.

"She has to be here when I'm so close…" Ace mumbled to herself.

"What was that?"

Ace spun around, irritated that her carefully laid plan had been foiled seemingly accidentally by the one person she had tried hardest to avoid. "You had to follow me."

Kelly's head tilted ever so slightly. "You expected otherwise when I know the sort of trouble you end up in? That I'd just watch you arm yourself with every can of Nitro you possibly could and walk head first into danger, and not do anything about it?" She gestured at Ace's jacket. "That I didn't associate that jacket with you planning on going somewhere?"

Her logic, although sound, was not what Ace wanted to hear. "I'd have thought you'd have enough of trouble, since you deal with it every day here, without needing to go looking for it."

Kelly considered that for a moment before shrugging. "If it's what you're good at and you find you're starting to enjoy it, why stop?"

Ace stared open-mouthed and not a sound could escape her throat.

'_Even the ice queen, the most influential card of the deck, has warmed since your arrival.'_

Miss Fritton was right, Ace thought with a jolt. Kelly was not like this when I came. She's practically melted; her outer layer of frost has gone. Is this because of me? God, what have I done? I've corrupted the sanest person in the whole school and turned into the craziest! The leader of the most feared girls in the whole of England (maybe even the whole world) who many thought was as icy and isolated as a glacier, as emotionless as a brick wall, as calculating as a chess-master, had become an extremely dangerous, risk-taking individual.

What have I done?

Seeing Ace's mixed emotions cross her face, a look of concern appeared. "What is it?" Kelly asked.

After a moment, Ace realised that it wasn't a sudden change but a gradual one and it had only surprised her because she hadn't really noticed it before now. She'd been too busy avoiding Josey, running from U.N.I.T, dodging the police, tracking down alien shape-shifters and generally trying to cope with being stuck in another century for an unspecified length of time. Only when she had been notified that the unspecified time had come to an end did Ace realise that what she'd always known would happen, what was about to occur.

Months of living here, and all Ace had wanted to do was leave. Vanish from the 21st Century and get back to travelling the Universe. Get back to what she was good at; saving the world. Never set foot on any school grounds again, and leave her past well and truly behind her.

All she wanted now was more time, which was ironic as she did have access to a time machine. It wasn't as simple as setting the coordinates back a few weeks and reliving them again though. She'd never tried, but she'd heard enough about paradoxes and 'time-lines' that went this way, that way, up, round and back, criss-crossing here but not there, running parallel to certain sections while intersecting others, all the while occurring in non-chronological order (At least that was how she remembered being told) to make her head hurt and, in order to avoid experiencing that kind of migraine ever again, she had put the idea out of her head for good. Also, bad stuff happened whenever she went back to any period in her own personal timeline.

Honestly though, it was mainly the second reason.

Ace averted her eyes and stared away into the distance.

"What's wrong?"

Of course you'd be here to make things even more difficult than they have to be, Ace thought bitterly. Of course I can't just slip away quietly. Oh no. You have to ask questions I don't want to- can't- answer. Ace mentally sighed and shoved those thoughts aside. I can't be like this now. She doesn't know what I'm doing, let alone how she's holding me back.

"Nothing." One word, a billion lies.

"Ace?" Kelly pressed, and Ace cringed inside.

She managed to keep her face straight though. Pretend it's true. Pretend I don't mind her being here. "Really, it's nothing."

Kelly approached then carefully removed Ace's backpack off her shoulder and placed it on the ground. For a split second, Ace contemplated snatching it back and making a run for it. She wanted to, really wanted to, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"You are a terrible liar," Kelly reprimanded. "Now, what is it? Why aren't you answering me?"

Ace stared down at the ground. Because I don't want to, she answered in her head, unable to say it aloud. Because I wanted to slip away quietly and not be noticed for the first time in my life. Because I know what I'll have to say and I can't bring myself to say it, especially not to you.

A hand gently pushed her chin up and a pair of brown eyes ensnared the gaze of her own. "Are you alright?" she asked, now genuinely concerned. "Something's heavy on your mind and has been all night. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

"I didn't want to say goodbye!"

The surprise and hurt in Kelly's widening eyes pulled Ace's heartstrings viciously. She wanted nothing more than to take that unexpected outburst back but it was too late.

"I see," Kelly answered shortly, frost suddenly appearing on her blank mask of a face to quickly cover her emotions.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean that-"

"It sounded like you did."

"No. I didn't..." Ace closed her eyes, trying to keep herself calm and under control. "I knew this would happen. I knew if I tried to tell you, I'd say it all wrong. So I tried...

"To sneak off and have no one know?" Kelly finished, shackles rising. "Just... leave like that?"

"I didn't know what to say," Ace appealed.

"You would just walk off and not look back?" accused Kelly. "You don't care enough about the people you're leaving behind to even say anything, or even leave a note?"

"I do care!" Ace defended, emotions coming to a boil. "Everywhere I go, everyone I meet, I know I'll have to say it and I hate it. It's the last thing I want to do."

"You would rather have them wake up tomorrow morning to find you weren't there?"

Ace winced at the use of the word 'them', knowing Kelly was referring to the other girls, her peers and friends. "Don't..." she said feebly.

"Have them search the whole school for you, to find you had taken everything you owned and left them all behind?"

Kelly's words only intensified Ace's desire to leg it, but she was frozen, unable to move as though enchanted to the spot by the Head Girl. "Please..."

Kelly did not relent. "Leave ten year old girls-"

One of Ace's heartstring snapped. "Don't you dare bring them into it, Kelly! Don't you dare!" Ace yelled, close to tears. But it was too late. There was no stopping Kelly's tirade.

"-to sit up waiting all day and night thinking you're coming back?"

Ace's vision blurred as liquid sadness seeped from her eyes. "Isn't it better to let them think that than telling them I might never be coming back?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "If there was another way, I would..."

Kelly shook her head. "I don't understand. Why are you leaving? I thought you liked it here."

"I do! I really do!" Ace insisted. "It's just... I have to go. It's what I do, you should know that."

"You told me you face aliens and save the world," responded Kelly. "This isn't either. Don't you have the decency to at least say goodbye?"

"But I can't! Every time I say it to someone, I never see them again. I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back, but if I don't go..." She swallowed. "He'll leave without me."

"'He'?" demanded Kelly, that violent gleam in her eye.

"He's my friend, Kit, the one who I travel time and space with."

The gleam faded as Ace's words were considered. "Is he the one who called you?"

Ace nodded. "He's leaving tonight and when he's gone he may never come back. I can't let him go on his own."

"Who is he?" Kelly's aggressive tone had died down, but was that temporary?

"He calls himself the Doctor," Ace continued, "but I call him the Professor. He's not the medical sort of doctor, so I think it's more appropriate." She paused then added, "Did I mention he was an alien?"

"No," was the curt reply.

"Oh. Well, he doesn't have green skin or anything. He looks just like a normal human being, but he's not a shape-shifter," she quickly explained as Kelly began to look worried. "He's one of the good ones. He taught me everything I know about aliens and space stuff."

Kelly sighed with relief, her foul mood suddenly sapped away by curiosity. "But he's an alien. You save the world with an alien? Why?"

"The Professor, he's really smart, like ten times Polly smart," Ace explained, "but he always gets himself into trouble." She grinned slightly, remembering all the situations he'd landed them in. "That's where I come in. I guard his back, help him save the world and get him out of the trouble he ends up in. We never land anywhere boring, well except Perivale but that ended up being pretty lively after a while."

"But why you?" Kelly asked. "If he's always ending up in trouble, why doesn't he hire a bodyguard?"

Ace swallowed. Kelly's question hurt because it sounded like Kelly doubted her ability to look after someone, as well as his poor choice of 'bodyguard'. "You can't trust people to protect you just because you pay them. Too many people turn traitor for the right price. Some even do it for a living out there. Bounty hunters, mercenaries, space pirates; they're only interested in money. They don't care what they have to do or who they have to betray."

Kelly acknowledged the information with a slight nod. "I've met the sort."

"Well, I won't let that happen to him," Ace declared. "He gave me my life back. Without him I'd be a freeze dried body somewhere or one of those mercenaries serving someone against my will." She shivered at the thought. "Travelling with him and watching his back every day is my way of repaying him."

"But haven't you repaid your debt? He saved you, you've saved him. Aren't you even?"

"But, I enjoy it," Ace replied. "I get to go places people never see. Landing on the moon is one thing, walking on surface of the Cheetah planet, Segonax and other worlds out there is another. Not just that, I can visit the past and the future. Anywhere, any-when." She reached down and picked up her bag.

"And?" Kelly prompted sensing there was more to it.

Ace hesitated, the backpack halfway to her shoulder. "He's like an uncle to me. I don't... I never got on with my family. He's the closest thing I've got. That's why I can't trust anyone else to guard his back. That's my job. Sure, I save people's lives, other planets and the universe too, but that's... that's not the most important thing to me. Not that I don't care," she elaborated, "I just care more about him."

"More than us?" Kelly asked quietly.

Ace turned away to the distance, peering through the trees where a blue box was waiting somewhere. She looked back. "I don't know anymore," she admitted. "You're like family too. One big crazy family." She stepped forward and grasped Kelly's hands firmly. "But they've got you. He's got no one." She gulped down a lungful of air to prevent her voice from breaking. "That's why I have to go... because he needs me."

Kelly traced her finger down Ace's cheek, clearing the tracks that her eyes leaked down her face. She didn't say anything as she wiped Ace's face clean.

"I... I..."

Kelly hushed her. "Shh... It's ok."

"I-I'm going to m-miss you, Kit-"

"Don't," Kelly interrupted softly. "Don't say it or I'll have to walk away right now. You said if you say goodbye to someone, you won't see them again. So I'm not going to let you."

"B-but…"

Kelly gently placed a moist finger against her quivering lips. "Listen to me. As much as it hurts, you must go. You are needed by people and planets far away more than right here and now. They need Ace McShane, the Ace who travels the universe and saves the world. They need her more than we need Ace McKenzie."

"Kit..."

"McShane is needed elsewhere, so McKenzie must disappear. Not even you can be both at once. Don't worry about everyone else. I'll deal with that. That's my job, and you need to go do yours. You've been helping me with mine for long enough. I can cope on my own, even if I have to be the bad gal snapping at their heels all day to keep them under control." She smiled sadly. "I think you've more than kept up your end of the bargain we made on your second day, and now I must watch you go."

Ace opened her mouth to argue but Kelly spoke over the top of her mumbling protests.

"It would be wrong and selfish of me to keep you here you when I know how important it is you go. But I will tell you this."

She locked eyes with Ace, and clutched the Head Girl badge pined to her shirt's collar as if it alone held her together.

"I will wait for you, Ace McKenzie," she said with the conviction and power of an oath sealed with blood. "I will wait forever if I have to, and St Trinian herself watch me every minute of everyday do just that."

Ace couldn't help but stare at her. I keep telling her I'm not coming back, but she won't believe it. No, she refuses to believe it, as though she thinks that believing it's possible will make it happen, as though her sheer force of will can force the two of us to meet again in the future.

"So..." Kelly composed herself by donning her mask again. "Until that day..."

Ace glanced down and saw the hand offered to her. She looked into the Head Girl of St Trinian's eyes. Brown flames of emotion flickered within. With a reluctant nod, she accepted the hand. This feels familiar, Ace thought to herself. However she couldn't help but notice there was something strange about their handshake this time. There was something warm between their hands pressing against her skin.

Before she could investigate, Kelly did the most unexpected thing Ace could ever have imagined. Ace blinked uncomprehendingly as she found herself being hugged. The embrace lasted a moment then Kelly broke away as if nothing had happened, but for a second, just a split second and no longer than that, Ace thought she saw something in the corner of her friend's eye, something that glistened in the moonlight; a tear.

* * *

"I'm back," Ace McShane called as she stepped into the TARDIS. "Did you miss me?"

The Professor glanced at her and sighed. "Of course I did. It was quiet, too quiet," he added, scurrying around the room, suddenly filled with energy. "I started talking to myself. There was no one else to talk to, and no one ever answered my questions. I think I started to go mad."

Ace chuckled. You're already mad, she thought as she gently placed her bag down in the corner and leaned against the console.

"How was school?"

She shrugged non-committedly, not quite ready to talk about it, especially with the most events in the forefront of her mind. "Good. How was the tower?"

"Not so good," he admitted. "The prison has a lot to be desired."

"Maybe you should write and complain. Or better yet, not get caught next time." He 'hmm'ed at her, and she grinned. A strange electronic bleeping noise caught Ace's attention, but he didn't notice. She looked at the monitor. "What's that?"

"A spaceship," he told her. "Left Earth's atmosphere a few hours ago and it intrigued me so I've been keeping an eye on it."

"Why? What's wrong with it? Is it damaged or something?"

He shook his head. "No, it's in perfect condition, brand new, top of the range for a short distance trip through space, only if you wanted to get from Earth to say, the Horsehead nebula." He frowned as the screen showed him the ship's predicted flight path. "Heading straight for Pheronus, it seems."

"Pheronus?"

"Pheronus," he repeated. "An artificial planet built much like a space station with fewer maintenance issues. It used to be just an observation deck with a perfect view in all directions, used to monitor space travel for fleets going off to attack unsuspecting planets and the movement of space pirates. Now it's a hub of activity since the Shadow Proclamation took over. They use it as a base."

Ace felt herself pale. "What's the Shadow Proclamation?" she asked, pretending to ignorant. Remember you've never heard of them before, she told herself. Brand new to you. You certainly don't know they're like-

"Intergalactic police really," he answered, as if reading her thoughts. She glanced at him with wide eyes, but he was blissfully unaware. "Not the brightest law enforcement out there, but its growing quite quickly."

"So, what do they do?" she felt obliged to ask.

"They track down alien criminals, sometimes with the assistance of bounty hunters…" She could hear the disapproval in his voice. "…when the circumstances require stealth or they are unable to land on a planet or the like due to galactic law." He trailed off as thoughts crossed his mind. "I thought they might have followed me, so I visited Pluto for a moment to see if they came after me, but they didn't. I wonder what they were doing here on Earth?" he mulled to himself. He then turned to her, "Any ideas?"

Ace tried to keep a knowing look off her face. Me? Know what some strange intergalactic alien policemen were doing on Earth at the same time as us? Don't be ridiculous. I was at school, doing school study things. It's not like I helped them track down a shape-shifting alien criminal…

"Nope," Ace replied. "Not a clue."

He looked disappointed. "You sure?"

She hesitated, pretending to think about it. "Maybe they were after that thing you were, that spaceship that crashed," she suggested.

The Professor scratched his head for a moment before deciding it was a possible explanation then tapped his fingers on the console. "So," he announced loudly, signalling that the previous conversation was over and, for now, out of his mind. "Where do you want to go? I picked our last stop, now it's your turn."

Ace's grin tripled in size as she began to ponder the possibilities. "You said something about sideways in time. Can we do that?"

"Afraid not." Ace's smile fell. "It's very difficult as we'd have to cross from one universe to another and, certain people," he met her eyes, "would stop us."

"The Time Lords."

He nodded solemnly. "Anywhere else?" When Ace didn't say anything, he offered suggestions. "How about France during the French revolution? Fu-gura, planet made of glass with gravity ten times less than Earth where you practically fly away every time you touch the ground, or Anura with an underwater city just like Atlantis. What about Sirius Five? We could go back to the Jurassic or..." He suddenly smiled. "We could meet Douglas Addams."

Ace shook her head. "I dunno. Can't decide. You know what, you pick this one. I'll have my pick later."

"Fair enough."

The room became a hive of activity as he darted about, flicking switches, pressed number and letters on a keyboard and turned dials. Ace stepped back out of the way, and tried to follow exactly what he was doing. There had to be a pattern to take off and landing, but she had yet to find it. The one thing she had noticed was there was a particular lever he used last. In her mind she dubbed it the 'Go' lever. Do everything else right then press that down and off you went.

"Here we go," she murmured under her breath as he pressed the lever.

* * *

"Kelly!"

Kelly glanced back as Polly rushed towards her with a frantic look her eyes. It had taken the Geek a good ten minutes to find her staring off the balcony of the second floor that overlooked the grounds. It was not her usual haunt. Typically if you wanted to find Kelly you either checked the roof or the dorm. Polly had done both and only as she passed by the science room and saw the open door did she find her.

"It's Ace," she explained quickly, keeping the details to a minimum to get the most important information out first. "I think she's leaving."

Instead of rushing off like Polly had expected she would, the Head Girl didn't move, seeming to have frozen to the spot.

The Geek spoke again to try and break into her thoughts. "Shouldn't you stop her?"

Kelly didn't answer and turned away again. It was then that Polly noticed the significance of her current location. It provided a perfect vantage point of the driveway and the surrounding grounds that were partially obscured from the roof and practically impossible to see from a dorm window. She processed this and Kelly's elected isolation from the other girls who were partying away downstairs in context with the blind-siding departure of the girl that had become next to inseparable to the Head Girl, practically her shadow, and abruptly understood her mistake. She had assumed Kelly had no knowledge of recent events when in fact she was even more up to date than she was.

"Ah," managed Polly. "You already knew..."

She watched Kelly stiffly nod.

"And you're just going to let her go?"

Another nod but slower than the last.

"Did she say when she'd be back?"

A subtle shake of the head answered the question.

"No?" Polly repeated just to be sure. "But... She's one of us. Why would she...?"

Kelly's voice was unnaturally rough when she spoke. "It's her choice."

Polly considered that for a moment. "Yes, but... She should at least let everyone say goodbye. It feels... wrong. After all the time she's been here to just let her walk away..."

"Some people are like that."

"You are like that," corrected Polly. "And don't deny it because I know it's true. This is just the sort of thing I can imagine you doing." At the same time, Polly couldn't imagine Kelly telling Ace to sneak off quietly, and so didn't ask if she'd had any involvement in the unexpected departure.

"Could you imagine me saying goodbye?"

"Not really," Polly admitted, "but you'd at least tell us you were leaving... Wouldn't you?"

She waited for Kelly's answer. There wasn't one.

A sound like gentle wheezing drifted into their ears when a breeze picked up despite being the stillest of days. Polly frowned in confusion; what on Earth could make a sound like that? It was none she had ever heard before and she'd heard multitudes of strange noises over the years. It was like wind howling through the cracks in a brick house at night and, being unable to see what caused it, caused a tremor of fear to slide down her spine.

Yet to the other listener who had a far broader and imaginative mind it sounded completely different; a whispering orchestra, a chorus of unfamiliar voices whose lyrics were undecipherable but majestic simply by being so. As the echo of the sound trailed away the Head Girl of St Trinian's smiled.


End file.
